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 (Sun. 6th - 9:30am-1:00pm) (Mon. 7th - 9:00am-9:30am) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 9am-5pm through Dec. 15th) SPECIES 12/06 12/07 SEASON 1997 Turkey Vulture 2 0 518* 362 Black Vulture 0 0 49* 13 Golden Eagle 0 0 1 3 Bald Eagle 0 0 22* (9 ad. & 13 imm.) 9 N. Harrier 0 0 48* 25 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 0 259* 106 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 152* 82 N. Goshawk 0 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 107* 51 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 11,782* 4,324 Red-tailed Hawk 5 0 516* 339 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 7 13 Osprey 0 0 48* 20 Am. Kestrel 0 0 64* 23 Merlin 0 0 15* 7 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 4* 2 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 (imm. light phase) n/a Unidentified Accipiter 0 0 3 4 Unidentified Buteo 0 0 3 3 Unidentified Falcon 0 0 1 0 Unidentified Raptor 0 0 0 0 Total: 8 1 13,601* 5,338 Weather: Sun., the weather finally getting cooler in the morning with alot of good clouds from the SWW. Mon., Alot of cloud forming from the SWW during half-hour watching. Raptor Migration Highlight: The hawk flights had improved well this month better than last year with a total of 22 hawks in Dec. 1998 compare to 17 during Dec. 1997. Non-Raptor Migration Highlights: n/a Note: On Sun. afternoon, I miss the hawkwatch because I have to help out the Clyburn Open House and today, Mon., went to the Baltimore Zoo to visit some old friends. Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com