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 (Nov. 3rd - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-5pm (Nov.), except Mon.-Thurs. 8am-2pm) SPECIES 11/03 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 39 406 525 362 BV+ 0 16 49 13 GE 0 0 1 3 BE (8 ad. & 19 imm.) 0 27* 22 9 NH+ 0 33 48 25 SS+ 9 319* 260 106 CH+ 1 194* 153 82 NG (2 ad. males & 1 imm.) 0 3* 1 2 RS+ 1 120* 108 51 BW+ 0 12,113* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 40 241 526 339 RL 1 1 7 14 OS+ 0 84* 48 20 AK+ 2 135* 64 23 ML 1 36* 15 7 PG 0 5* 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 94 13,745* 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 11/03 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 4 6 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+ 16 149* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 6 n/a Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 51* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 7 29* 7 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 1 3 4 Am. Robin+ 9 440 866 Blue Jay+ 0 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 11 47 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 14 42 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 6 195 ? Common Grackle+ 0 69 n/a Pine Siskin 0 3 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 5 92* 50 Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a House Finch+ 0 26 n/a Purple Finch 0 3 3 Unid. non-raptor sp.+ 18 792 4,283 (including sparrow) 93 9,627 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 11/03 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= MC :Temp in the mid 40's all day. Wind from the W. Strong and gusty wind for almost most of the day. Raptor Migration Highlight: Both Redtails and Turkey Vultures braves the stong wind. Some of the Redtails are very high to avoid high wind. Season first Rough-legged Hawk at 9:43am headed W. Nice kettles of 14 Turkey Vultures, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, and 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks at 1:10pm and another kettle of 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 2 Am. Kestrels at 1:11pm, all headed SWW, except for kestrels headed SW. A total of 32 hawks between 1:10pm and 1:12pm. Merlin seen zip by real fast by strong wind at 12:37pm headed SWW. Forgot to add Red-tailed Hawk from Mon. at 1:54pm just before I left for work. Need 255 hawks to reach 14,000. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Yesterday rainout had only 10 robins flyby. Late migrants swallows with 6 Tree Swallows together left real quick for SW and 6 with a kettle of 3 Sharpies and 2 kestrels at 1:11pm, a second later, 4 more Tree Swallows follows. White-throated Sparrows and juncos are picking up well. A flock of 4 Common Loons seen very high at 1:57pm headed SE. Need 4,912 non-raptors to reach 14,539, but may not get that far. 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