[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Wed, 29 Sep 1999 00:02:42 -0400
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 (Sept. 28th - 9:30am-12pm & 12:30pm-2pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-7pm (Sept.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 9/28 SEASON 1998 1997
TV 0 25 525 362
BV 0 3 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (4 ad. & 9 imm.) 1 13 22 9
NH 0 8 48 25
SS 2 54 260 106
CH 0 25 153 82
NG (male) 0 1 1 2
RS 0 9 108 51
BW 1,134 11,785* 11,782 4,324
RT 0 10 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS 0 36 48 20
AK 0 49 64 23
ML 0 8 15 7
PG 0 0 4 2
SW 0 0 1 n/a
UA 0 0 3 4
UB 0 1 3 3
UF 0 0 1 n/a
UR 0 1 n/a n/a
1,137 12,208* 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 9/28 SEASON 1998
Double-cr. Cormorant 0 1 141
Great Blue Heron 0 1 4
Canada Goose 0 183 2,934
Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a
Ring-billed Gull 0 15 467
Common Nighthawk 1 54 188
Chimney Swift 81 501 4,486
Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a
Northern Flicker 2 9* 5
Eastern Phoebe 0 2 ?
Least Flycatcher 0 1 n/a
Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a
Purple Martin 0 5 n/a
Barn Swallow 4 175* 3
Tree Swallow 2 94* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 2 n/a
Gray Catbird 8 8 ?
Am. Robin 6 48 866
Blue Jay 552* 607* 576
Cedar Waxwing 0 53* 30
Yellow Warbler 0 1 (imm.) 1
Black-th. Blue Warbler 0 1 (female) n/a
Black-and-white Warbler 0 2 n/a
Am. Redstart 0 4 n/a
Bobolink 0 3 n/a
Chipping Sparrow 0 4 ?
Song Sparrow 0 8 ?
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
Unid. sparrow sp. 14 97 ?
Common Grackle 8 53 n/a
Am. Goldfinch 0 13 50
Unid. non-raptor sp. 42 221 4,283 (including sparrow)
720 2,216 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 9/28 SEASON 1998
MOnarch 395 4,804 7,399
Weather: am=R/MC pm=PC/MC :Temp in the mid 70's. Mostly cloudy in
am with drizzle called off hawkwatch until 9:30am. Drizzle came in at
12pm again and clear off at 12:30pm. Partly cloudy came in with sun at
12:55pm and continue until 2:00pm.
Raptor Migration Highlight: New season record for BW's, but kind of slow
this year, missed many of them last Sun while I was at Brandywine. Late
kettle at 1:38pm during partly cloudy with few blue sky, must be the
same birds from Turkey Point Hawk Watch in Cecil County on Sun. morning.
Most of the kettle seen very high and far off east side of the ridge (I
was at the ridge with 2 of my dogs between 1:30pm & 2pm). Two kettles of
416 and 718 side by side headed SW. Single adult Bald Eagle seen with
smallest kettle of BW's and follow the same route. This may be the last
wave of BW's this season, still there will be few more birds up north,
probably at least a dozens more for the next two weeks, same as last
year through second week of October. The hawk total was high this year
with 12,208 birds compare to 11,958 same time last year. Look forward to
see good numbers of accipiters and common buteos next month.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: A very big day for Blue Jay with some
large flocks and some single birds. Flocks seen all day with 15, 22, 10,
3, 2, 58, 17, 22, 8, 38, 3, 50, 47, 18, 3, 30, 47, 3, 1, 4, 1, 28, 27,
2, 23, 18, 20, 12, 18, and 2. This is a new single day record for this
birds and new season record, might get up to 5,000 total for the season.
Butterfly Migration Highlight: Another good day for Monarch.
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, PG=
Peregrine Falcon, SW= Swainson's Hawk, UA= Unidentified Accipiter, UB=
Unidentified Buteo, UF= Unidentified Falcon, UR= Unidentified Raptor.
Sky codes: S= Sunny, PC= Partly Cloudy, MC= Mostly Cloudy, R= Rain
Questions or comments on this report to Kevin Graff at
ggraff@erols.com
Kevin Graff
Baltimore, MD
ggraff@erols.com