[BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Wed, 02 Dec 1998 00:25:57 -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 (Tues. Nov. 24th - 9am-10:30am)
(Mon. Nov. 30th - 4pm-5pm)
(Tues. Dec. 1st - 9am-10am & 4pm-5pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th)
SPECIES 11/24 11/30 12/01 SEASON 1997
Turkey Vulture 0 1 0 516* 362
Black Vulture 0 0 0 49* 13
Golden Eagle 0 0 0 1 3
Bald Eagle 0 0 0 22* 9
N. Harrier 0 0 0 48* 25
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 0 0 257* 106
Cooper's Hawk 0 1 0 151* 82
N. Goshawk 0 0 0 1 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 107* 51
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 0 11,782* 4,324
Red-tailed Hawk 1 2 8 508* 339
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 7 13
Osprey 0 0 0 48* 20
Am. Kestrel 0 0 1 64* 23
Merlin 0 0 0 15* 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 4* 2
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 1 n/a
Unidentified Accipiter 0 0 0 3 4
Unidentified Buteo 0 0 0 3 3
Unidentified Falcon 0 0 0 1 0
Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 0 0
Total: 1 4 9 13,588* 5,338
Weather: Mostly cloudy in all three days with a mixed of winds.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Finally got a kestrel, it been a month since
I had a kestrel.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Am. Robins on Tues 24th with 6 birds and
18 on Mon. 30th and a nice flock of 8 Cedar Waxwings on Dec. 1st and 5
Am. Robins on the 1st too.
Note: As days is getting shorter with 14 days left to close the
hawkwatch, the hawks are getting slower each day.
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com