Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 1998 Site: 3812 White Ave., between Belair Rd. and Walther Ave. - northeast Baltimore City in the Gardenville section. Topography of the Site: The prominent peak in the area is a steep ridge about 180-200' above Belair Rd. and about 260' above sea level. It runs northeast to southwest and is the first ridge west of the Chesapeake Bay. It is about 12 miles from the bay, and is about 5 miles northwest of the head of Back River, an arm of the bay, and about 6 miles north of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. There is a long narrow old-growth of woods about 3+ acres on top of the ridge. My hawkwatch site is about 150 yards west of the ridge. From the west side of the ridge, going west past my site, the topography continues to rise for about 6/10 mile to a height even higher than the ridge. The only road that runs along side of ridge is Fairwood Ave., that connects from White Ave. to Parkmount Ave. The hawkwatch is located in my backyard. Most of the hawk flights arrive from the northeast and a few from the north. Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com) Counter: Kevin Graff (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-6pm early to mid. Oct.) SPECIES 10/10 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 10 41 362 Black Vulture 3 9 13 Golden Eagle 0 0 3 Bald Eagle 3 13* (7 ad. & 6 imm.) 9 N. Harrier 4 32* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 15 78 106 Cooper's Hawk 12 42 82 N. Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 15 51 Broad-winged Hawk 1 11,774* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 3 33 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 13 Osprey 3 44* 20 Am. Kestrel 12 49* 23 Merlin 1 9* 7 Peregrine Falcon 0 3* 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 (imm. light phrase - 9/16) n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 2 4 Unidentified Buteo 0 0 3 Unidentified Falcon 1 1 0 Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 71 12,147* 5,338 Weather: Another gray cloud, clear sky show up at 1:30pm but mixed with heavy cloud cover. Wind from the NWN, NW and N. Tomorrow weather will be good with partly sunny. Raptor Migration Highlight: Good day for hawk flights, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Am. Kestrel moving in strong. Tomorrow good weather will bring in great numbers, I hope. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: A nice day for 15 flocks of 229 Canada Geese, 1 Common Loon, 2 Red-throated Loon, and a flock of 21 N. Shoveler in mixed flock to line form. The N. Shoveler was seen high in the sky headed towards SE, both loons also headed SE too. About 80% of today geese flocks are headed SE while 20% are headed SW and SWW. Also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet made a rest stop at one of the maple tree. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com