[BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:10:19 -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)
Counter: Kevin Graff (9am-11am & 12:30pm-4:30pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th)
SPECIES 11/22 SEASON 1997
Turkey Vulture 6 515* 362
Black Vulture 0 49* 13
Golden Eagle 0 1 3
Bald Eagle 0 22* (9 ad. & 13 imm.) 9
N. Harrier 0 48* 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 256* 106
Cooper's Hawk 3 149* 82
N. Goshawk 0 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 107* 51
Broad-winged Hawk 0 11,782* 4,324
Red-tailed Hawk 20 494* 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: 33 13,569* 5,338
Weather: About 20% cloud cover appear all morning under the clear sky
until 1pm where heavy cloud cover brought good action through 3pm. After
a good action, for rest of afternoon, only 10% cloud cover. Wind from
the NW.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Another good day for Red-tailed Hawks
between 1-3pm. There may not be a good chance to reach 14,000 hawks by
Dec. 15th, still I hope to get 431 more to reach that number.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Two nice close-up view of Common Loons,
1 at 1:24pm and 1 at 1:45pm.
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com