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. 19th - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-6:00pm (Oct.), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 10/19 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 13 145 525 362 BV 1 10 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (7 ad. & 16 imm.) 1 23* 22 9 NH+ 2 29 48 25 SS+ 21 237 260 106 CH+ 10 148 153 82 NG (male) 0 1 1 2 RS+ 7 77 108 51 BW+ 0 12,062* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 15 85 526 339 RL 0 0 7 14 OS+ 0 84* 48 20 AK+ 1 125* 64 23 ML 0 34* 15 7 PG 0 2 4 2 SW - - 1 n/a UA+ 0 2 3 4 UB 0 3 3 3 UF 0 2 1 n/a UR 0 1 n/a n/a 71 13,250 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 10/19 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 0 2 21 Red-throated Loon 2 2 2 Double-cr. Cormorant 2 92 141 Great Blue Heron 0 11* 4 Canada Goose 12 1,936 2,934 Snow Goose 0 68 230 Am. Black Duck 0 2 n/a Northern Pintail 0 4 n/a Short-billed Dowitcher 0 9 n/a Common Snipe 0 1 n/a Laughing Gull 0 1 n/a Ring-billed Gull 9 77 467 Common Nighthawk 0 63 188 Chimney Swift+ 0 2,082 4,486 Ruby-th. Hummingbird 0 7* 1 Belted Kingfisher 0 1 (male) n/a Downy Woodpecker 0 1 2 Northern Flicker 0 13* 5 Eastern Phoebe 0 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 3 130* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 5 n/a Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8 25* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 6 12* 7 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 0 2 4 Am. Robin+ 12 222 866 Blue Jay+ 8 2,868* 576 Cedar Waxwing 0 53* 30 Red-eyed Vireo 0 1 n/a Nashville Warbler 0 1 n/a 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 15 ? White-throated Sparrow 6 18 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 5 7 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 9 153 ? Common Grackle 0 53 n/a Pine Siskin 1 1 n/a (new yardlist) Am. Goldfinch+ 2 66* 50 Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a Purple Finch 3 3 3 Unid. non-raptor sp. 40 433 4,283 (including sparrow) 128 8,683 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 10/19 SEASON 1998 Monarch+ 1 6,585 7,399 American Lady 0 4 n/a 1 6,589 7,399 + reported by other observers Weather: am= PC/MC pm= PC :Temp in the upper 50's. Wind from the SW. Raptor Migration Highlight: An 1st winter Bald Eagle seen at 11:43am headed S and is the new season record. Ad. male N. Harrier at 11:31am headed SW and ad. female at 11:53am headed SWS. Only kettle of TV was 9 birds with single Black Vulture at 11:34am headed SW. Accipiters and Buteos are picking up well today. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: New record and new yardlist for Pine Siskin flyby at 12:36pm and season first Pueple Finch at 12:37pm. More juncos flyby and got 4 in my yard today. Good day for kinglets and new season record for Golden-crowned. Season first Red-throated Loons at 12:36pm headed SE. 2 cormorants at 11:28am headed SE. Slow day for geese with a flock of 11 at 11:01am and 1 at 11:40am and both headed SE. 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 comment on this report to Kevin Graff at ggraff@erols.com Kevin Graff Baltimore, MD ggraff@erols.com