[BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sun, 15 Nov 1998 18:35:04 -0500
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)
Counters: Kevin Graff (9-10am & 11am-5pm) & Pete Webb (2:05-4pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th)
SPECIES 11/15 SEASON 1997
Turkey Vulture 8 482* 362
Black Vulture 0 46* 13
Golden Eagle 0 1 3
Bald Eagle 0 22* (9 ad. & 13 imm.) 9
N. Harrier 0 48* 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 244* 106
Cooper's Hawk 4 137* 82
N. Goshawk 0 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 104* 51
Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,782* 4,324
Red-tailed Hawk 40 413* 339
Rough-legged Hawk 0 7 13
Osprey 0 48* 20
Am. Kestrel 0 63* 23
Merlin 1 15* 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 4* 2
Swainson's Hawk 0 1 (imm. light phase - 9/16) n/a
Unidentified Accipiter 0 3 4
Unidentified Buteo 0 3 3
Unidentified Falcon 0 1 0
Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 64 13,425* 5,338
Weather: Nice clear sky with a few cloud, mostly 20% cloud cover. Also
cold and windy. The hawkwatching was called off at 10am due to very
strong wind which last about 54 minutes. Wind from the NWW.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Hooray!!! Finally got some strong movement
with good day for Red-tailed Hawks. Had some good numbers of
Sharp-shinned and Cooper's attacking their prey, only 3 out of 7
accipiters has caught their prey.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Good movement of Tundra Swans with 3
flocks of 53 (13, 12, and 28). Also nice flock of 3 Common Loon and more
Am. Robin with 67. Had reach 10,000 non-raptors today (30 species of
birds flyby since early Sept.)
Note: Pete Webb came to visit today to watch hawks, and we had 11 hawks
so far including 5 RTH, 4 SSH, and 2 CH and a nice flocks of 12 and 28
Tundra Swans. I'm hoping to reach 14,000 hawks by Dec. 15th, but may not
get that far. I'm hoping to get 575 more hawks to reach that mark.
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com