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 between 3-5 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) Counter: Kevin Graff (9am-4:30pm, including 15 min. lunch break) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th) SPECIES 11/06 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 10 459* 362 Black Vulture 0 43* 13 Golden Eagle 0 1 3 Bald Eagle 0 22* (9 ad. & 13 imm.) 9 N. Harrier 0 46* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 222* 106 Cooper's Hawk 1 125* 82 N. Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 91* 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,782* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 17 308 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 5 13 Osprey 0 48* 20 Am. Kestrel 0 63* 23 Merlin 0 14* 7 Peregrine Falcon 0 3* 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 (imm. light phase - 9/16) n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 3 4 Unidentified Buteo 0 2 3 Unidentified Falcon 0 1 0 Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 30 13,240* 5,338 Weather: Another cold and windy day with clear sky and cloud cover mix, with few sun all day. Wind from the NWN. Raptor Migration Highlight: Another slow day. Where have all the Sharp-shinned have gone, and I'm still waiting for more Rough-legged Hawks, they are getting slow this year. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: A nice several flocks of 263 Am. Robin and 5 White-throated Sparrows and another late single Am. Goldfinch. Note: I left early at 4:30pm because of a doctor appt. And also I won't be doing any hawkwatching this weekend, because I have a 18th century camping at Hope Lodge in northeast PA. I'm a living history member during Revoluntary time with Maryland Company Wayne's Light Infantry. I will do some birding up there because, Hope Lodge has a good winter resident Rough-legged Hawks and some nice winter sparrows. Will give reports on Sun. night when I get back and will return to hawkwatching on Mon. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com