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 and northeast-east. Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com) Counters: Kevin Graff and Pete Webb (4-6pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-6pm early to mid. Oct.) SPECIES 10/11 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 27 68 362 Black Vulture 3 12 13 Golden Eagle 0 0 3 Bald Eagle 0 13* (7 ad. & 6 imm.) 9 N. Harrier 5 37* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 23 101 106 Cooper's Hawk 10 52 82 N. Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 17 51 Broad-winged Hawk 4 11,778* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 6 39 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 13 Osprey 2 46* 20 Am. Kestrel 4 53* 23 Merlin 0 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 2 2 3 Unidentified Falcon 0 1 0 Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 88 12,235* 5,338 Weather: Finally, clear sky with mostly sunny in am, and cloud cover move slowing from the NWN and N to NNE to NWN for rests of afternoon. Raptor Migration Highlight: Another strong movement of Turkey Vulture and Sharp-shinned Hawk. A very nice hawk flights today. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Canada Geese on the move again. 11 flocks of 268 Canada Geese, 2 flocks of 80 Snow Geese and a impressive 4 flocks of 139 Double-crested Cormorant. Most of cormorant flight came in V-formation. More Blue Jay with 32 flyby. Monarch Butterflies finally came back after about a week of absence, with 13 seen going south. Note: I would like to say thanks to Pete Webb (our BBC member) helping on the hawkwatch count and is the first counter to help out on Backyard Hawk Watch. For two hours, 4-6pm, we counted 24 hawks including 8 TV, 5 SSH, 4 CH, 2 AK, 1 NH, 1 RTH, and 2 UB (unidentified buteo) and seeing 3 flocks of 32 Canada Geese. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com