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. Note: Did only 2 hrs on Fri the 22nd from 3:45pm-5:45pm because I went to my cousin's buffalo farm in Harford County to help out cook some food for the girl scout troops camp-out. During the hawk watch, I had a kettle of 5 Black Vultures at 3:49pm and a Sharpie at 4:20pm, non-raptors flyby south including 21 Am. Robins, 5 House Finches, and 10 unidentified non-raptor species. Special thanks to Pete Webb for covering Sat while I was at re-enactment camping in Laurel, Prince George's County. Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com)) Counter: Pete Webb (Oct. 23st - 10:00am-5:30pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-6:00pm (Oct.), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 10/23 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 36 215 525 362 BV+ 1 16 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (7 ad. & 16 imm.) 0 23* 22 9 NH+ 0 30 48 25 SS+ 5 255 260 106 CH+ 2 155* 153 82 NG (male) 0 1 1 2 RS+ 0 87 108 51 BW+ 0 12,062* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 2 98 526 339 RL 0 0 7 14 OS+ 0 84* 48 20 AK+ 1 126* 64 23 ML 0 34* 15 7 PG 0 2 4 2 SW - - 1 n/a UA+ 0 2 3 4 UB 0 5 3 3 UF 0 2 1 n/a UR 0 1 n/a n/a 47 13,372 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 10/23 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 0 2 21 Red-throated Loon 0 2 2 Double-cr. Cormorant 0 92 141 Great Blue Heron 0 11* 4 Canada Goose 0 1,945 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 0 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 14* 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+ 3 133* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 5 n/a Ruby-crowned Kinglet 0 30* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 12* 7 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 0 2 4 Am. Robin+ 3 254 866 Blue Jay+ 2 2,887* 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 17 ? White-throated Sparrow 0 21 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 0 10 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 0 155 ? Common Grackle+ 3 58 n/a Pine Siskin 0 1 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 0 69* 50 Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a House Finch+ 17 26 n/a Purple Finch 0 3 3 Unid. non-raptor sp.+ 13 470 4,283 (including sparrow) 41 8,797 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 10/23 SEASON 1998 Monarch+ 0 6,587 7,399 American Lady 0 4 n/a 0 6,591 7,399 + reported by other observers Weather: am= MC pm= MC :Temp in the mid 50's. Wind from the WNW all day. Raptor Migration Highlight: Pete seen good numbers of vultures, nice kettle of 11 Turkey Vultures at 12:15pm far east end of the ridge headed SW. New season record for Cooper's Hawk. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Good movement of House Finches. 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