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 long narrow old-growth of woods between 3-5 acres op 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 (10:30am-5pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th) SPECIES 11/18 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 9 494* 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 1 246* 106 Cooper's Hawk 2 144* 82 N. Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 106* 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,782* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 16 443* 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 7 13 Osprey 0 48* 20 Am. Kestrel 0 63* 23 Merlin 0 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: 28 13,478* 5,338 Weather: The weather remain clear with alot of good sunshine all morning, until after 2:30pm, a few cloud passed by for rest of afternoon. Wind from SWW and W. Raptor Migration Highlight: In the last two weeks, more and more hawks keep passing over the ridge and the east side than over my backyard. About 85% of the hawks have passing the ridge and the east side, only 15% over my backyard. I might have miss more hawks over the ridge during the clear sky. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Not much in the morning with only 8 Am. Robin flyby and at 4:43pm, a flock of 35 Canada Geese passing over the ridge headed southwest-south. Note: The reason I didn't so the hawkwatching at 9am to 10:30am because of alot of planes are flying in all directions especially dozens small planes from Baltimore Air Park, are flying too close to hawk migration route. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com