[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sat, 30 Oct 1999 21:41:20 -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.
Note: Forgot to add Redtail from Thurs at 1:54pm, and Friday hawkwatch
is called off at 12pm because of increasing temp and no wind. Only
Sharpie at 10:06am. Today starting at 11:30am because I went to the
college library working on my projects on final exam from 9am-11am.
Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com))
Counters: Kevin Graff (Oct. 30th - 11:30am-6pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-5:30pm (Oct.), except
Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm)
SPECIES 10/30 SEASON 1998 1997
TV+ 8 340 525 362
BV+ 0 16 49 13
GE 0 0 1 3
BE (8 ad. & 19 imm.) 2 27* 22 9
NH+ 0 33 48 25
SS+ 2 297* 260 106
CH+ 2 186* 153 82
NG (2 ad. males & 1 imm.) 0 3* 1 2
RS+ 0 115* 108 51
BW+ 0 12,112* 11,782 4,324
RT+ 8 169 526 339
RL 0 0 7 14
OS+ 0 84* 48 20
AK+ 2 133* 64 23
ML 1 35* 15 7
PG 1 4 4 2
SW - - 1 n/a
UA+ 0 2 3 4
UB 0 6 3 3
UF 0 2 1 n/a
UR 0 2 n/a n/a
26 13,566 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 10/30 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 1,969 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 0 111 467
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 15* 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+ 0 133* 5
N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a
Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 5 n/a
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 42* 11
Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 16* 7
Gray Catbird 0 8 ?
N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a
Hermit Thrush 0 2 4
Am. Robin+ 40 351 866
Blue Jay+ 5 2,914* 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 35 63
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
"Slate-colored" Junco 0 28 51
Unid. sparrow sp. 2 179 ?
Common Grackle+ 0 61 n/a
Pine Siskin 0 1 n/a
Am. Goldfinch+ 0 81* 50
Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a
House Finch+ 0 26 n/a
Purple Finch 0 3 3
Unid. non-raptor sp.+ 180 751 4,283 (including sparrow)
229 9,348 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 10/30 SEASON 1998
Monarch+ 0 6,595 7,399
Question Mark 0 1 n/a
Mourning Cloak 0 5 n/a
Red Admiral 0 4 n/a
American Lady 0 11 n/a
0 6,616 7,399
+ reported by other observers
Weather: am= S/PC pm= S :Temp in the mid 50's in early am to
late 60's around noon. Wind from the S until 1pm then changed to SWW and
S rest of the day. Warmer weather from Fri and Sat slowing some hawks.
Warm weather will continue until Mon. then cold front on Tues should
help to keep temp back to normal.
Raptor Migration Highlight: Slow day, not all hawks can fly in calm wind
and warmer temp. Triple falcon day with a Peregrine Falcon at 12:16pm
headed S, 1st kestlre at 1:58pm headed SWW and second kestrel at 2:10pm
headed SW and a Merlin at 4:58pm headed S. 2nd winter Bald Eagle seen at
1:46pm and an adult at 1:51pm and both headed SW.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: More than hundred of non-raptor species
seen passing east side of the ridge make it differcult to id. Not many
over my place except several late day flocks of Am. Robins headed SE and
some kinglets and jays before noon. Warmer weather halt some flights all
day keeping the birds north of here.
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