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. 25th - 12:30pm-1pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-8pm (August), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 8/25 SEASON 1998 1997 TV 0 4 525 362 BV 0 1 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (1 ad. & 2 imm.) 1 3 22 9 NH 0 1 48 25 SS 0 1 260 106 CH 0 2 153 82 NG 0 0 1 2 RS 0 0 108 51 BW 0 8 11,782 4,324 RT 0 2 526 339 RL 0 0 7 14 OS 0 9 48 20 AK 0 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 1 42 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 8/25 SEASON 1998 Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a Ring-billed Gull 0 8 467 Common Nighthawk 1 6 188 Chimney Swift 0 41 4,486 Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 1 1 Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a Purple Martin 0 3 n/a Barn Swallow 0 29* 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 0 3 n/a Common Grackle 0 39 n/a 1 169 10,256 (33 species) Butterfly 8/25 SEASON 1998 Monarch 1 34 7,399 1 34 7,399 Weather: am=PC pm=R :Temp in the lower 80's. Heavy gray clouds forming in am causing the hawkwatch to be called off until after noon. Wind from the SE in am, then turned to E after noon. Raptor Migration Highlight: A single imm. 1st winter Bald Eagle seen at 12:37pm soar over the ridge and catched the thermal and goes higher in the sky until disappear through a cloud headed W. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: n/a Butterfly Migration Highlight: n/a 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