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 (Oct. 5th - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-6:30pm (Oct.), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 10/05 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 1 44 525 362 BV 0 9 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (7 ad. & 12 imm.) 0 19 22 9 NH 1 17 48 25 SS+ 15 161 260 106 CH 20 109 153 82 NG (male) 0 1 1 2 RS 6 44 108 51 BW+ 1 12,028* 11,782 4,324 RT 3 29 526 339 RL 0 0 7 14 OS+ 5 77* 48 20 AK+ 2 119* 64 23 ML 2 29* 15 7 PG 0 2 4 2 SW 0 0 1 n/a UA 0 0 3 4 UB 0 3 3 3 UF 0 2 1 n/a UR 0 1 n/a n/a 56 12,874 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 10/05 SEASON 1998 Double-cr. Cormorant 0 48 141 Great Blue Heron 1 10* 4 Northern Pintail 4 4 n/a (new yardlist) Canada Goose 113 1,262 2,934 Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a Common Snipe 1 1 n/a (new yardlist) Laughing Gull 0 1 n/a Ring-billed Gull 0 24 467 Common Nighthawk 0 63 188 Chimney Swift+ 261 1,604 4,486 Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1 Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a Downy Woodpecker 0 1 2 Northern Flicker 0 11* 5 Eastern Phoebe 1 3 ? Least Flycatcher 0 1 n/a Eastern Kingbird 0 3 n/a Purple Martin 0 5 n/a Barn Swallow 0 175* 3 Tree Swallow 9 113* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 5 n/a Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 3 11 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? Am. Robin+ 43 149 866 Blue Jay+ 27 2,613* 576 Cedar Waxwing 0 53* 30 Red-eyed Vireo 1 1 n/a (new yardlist) Nashville Warbler 1 1 n/a (new yardlist?) 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 2 10 ? White-throated Sparrow 2 5 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a Unid. sparrow sp. 3 116 ? Common Grackle 0 53 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 0 52* 50 Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a Unid. non-raptor sp. 6 321 4,283 (including sparrow) 477 6,782 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 10/05 SEASON 1998 Monarch+ 70 6,489 7,399 (27 - 10/04) American Lady 0 4 n/a 70 6,493 7,399 + reported by other observers Weather: am=S/PC/MC pm=MC :Temp in the mid. 60's. Wind from the NW and sometimes from the NWN. Heavy overcast and windy. Raptor Migration Highlight: Accipiters are picking up again with more Cooper's second time this week. Another good day for Osprey. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: The total species of non-raptor reached 41 species today compare to 33 for a season last fall. Three new yardlists, both vireo and warbler seen at one of the maple tree next to the driveway and a Commmon Snipe seen at 10:45am headed W. Eastern Phoebe seen on telephone wire along the alley and disappear after seen well for several hours. More flights of geese with 10 flocks, but a little slow, but interesting flight was a single Atlantic Canada Goose with 5 Hutchins's Canada Geese (formally Richardson's) seen at 10:51am headed SSE. And seen with a flock of 18 geese was 4 Northern Pintail at 10:11am headed SE. I have seen few smaller race of Canada Geese in Blackwater NWR and in Eastern Neck NWR. 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, 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