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. 22nd - 10am-5:45pm & 6:15pm-7:30pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-8pm (August), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 8/22 SEASON 1998 1997 TV 2 4 525 362 BV 1 1 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (1 ad. & 1 imm.) 0 2 22 9 NH 0 1 48 25 SS 0 1 260 106 CH 1 2 153 82 NG 0 0 1 2 RS 0 0 108 51 BW 1 5 11,782 4,324 RT 0 2 526 339 RL 0 0 7 14 OS 5 9 48 20 AK 3 9 64 23 ML 0 1 15 7 PF 0 0 4 2 SH 0 0 1 n/a UA 0 0 3 4 UB 0 1 3 3 UF 0 0 1 0 UR 0 0 0 0 13 38 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 8/22 SEASON 1998 Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a Ring-billed Gull 8 8 467 Common Nighthawk 2 4 188 Chimney Swift 5 39 4,486 Ruby-th. Hummingbird 1 1 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 1 n/a (first yardlist) Eastern Kingbird 3 3 n/a (first yardlist) Purple Martin 0 3 n/a Barn Swallow 0 28* 3 Tree Swallow 0 16* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 5 n/a Am. Robin 0 4 866 Black-and-white Warbler 0 1 n/a Bobolink 3 3 n/a (first yardlist) Common Grackle 0 39 n/a 23 164 10,256 (33 species) Butterfly 8/22 SEASON 1998 Monarch 17 31 7,399 17 31 7,399 Weather: am=PS pm=PC :Temp in the mid 80's. Nice cool weather. Wind from the N and sometimes mixed with NNW, SW, SWS and NW. Raptor Migration Highlight: Ospreys are in action today along with kestrels too. Season first Black Vulture flew over at 4:40pm and headed W. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Nice day for several migrants, 3 new yardlists, including a single flock of Bobolink came out from NW and headed E, a flock of kingbirds from the NW and drop out somewhere in the woods at south end of the ridge in late evening, and the kingfisher from the NW and headed SE. Hope for more new yardlist migrants sometimes this week. This has been a good week for non-raptor for the month of August and raptors too. Butterfly Migration Highlight: Season first wave of Monarch came in part of afternoon. 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= Unidentified 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