Backyard Hawk Watch (est. 1992), Fall 1999 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. 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 (Aug. 10th - 9am-9:30am & 12pm-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-8pm (August), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 8/10 SEASON 1998 1997 TV 0 1 525 362 BV 0 0 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE 0 0 22 9 NH 0 0 48 25 SS 0 0 260 106 CH 1 1 153 82 NG 0 0 1 2 RS 0 0 108 51 BW 0 2 11,782 4,324 RT 0 1 526 339 RL 0 0 7 13 OS 0 0 48 20 AK 1 2 64 23 ML 0 0 15 7 PF 0 0 4 2 SH 0 0 1 n/a UA 0 0 3 4 UB 0 0 3 3 UF 0 0 1 0 UR 0 0 0 0 2 7 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 8/10 SEASON 1998 Short-billed Dowitcher 9 9 n/a (first yard list) Chimney Swift 4 17 4,486 Barn Swallow 0 8* 3 Tree Swallow 1 5 5 Am. Robin 0 4 866 Common Grackle 0 39 n/a 14 82 10,256 (33 species) Butterfly 8/10 SEASON 1998 Monarch 2 7 7,399 2 7 7,399 Weather: am= S pm= S :Temp in the upper 80's. Good cloud cover all day with wind from NWW in am and W to SWW in pm. Raptor Migration Highlight: Cooper's Hawk arrive at 12:55pm headed S and Am. Kestrel at 1:53pm headed SW. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Interesting non-raptor today was a flock of 9 breeding Short-billed Dowitcher in mixed flock to a V-form at 1:39pm headed SWW. This is a first record for Backyard Hawk Watch and a new yardlist. Butterfly Migration Highlight: Someone remind me that the E. Tiger Swallowtail is not a migrant, so I took it off the list. Standard hawk species identifier codes used: TV= Turkey Vulture, BV= Black Vulture, GE= Golden Eagle, BE= Bald Eagle, NH= N. Harrier, SS= Sharp-shinned Hawk, CH= Cooper's Hawk, NG= N. Goshawk, RS= Red-shouldered Hawk, BW= Broad-winged Hawk, RT= Red-tailed Hawk, RL= Rough-legged Hawk, OS= Osprey, AK= Am. Kestrel, ML= Merlin, PF= Peregrine Falcon, SH= Swainson's Hawk, UA= Unidentified Accipiter, UB= Unidenitifed Buteo, UF= Unidentified Falcon, UR= Unidentified Raptor. Sky codes: S= Sunny, MS= Mostly Sunny, PS= Partly Sunny, MC= Mostly Cloudy, PC= Partly Cloudy, R= Rain Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com