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: Just a reminder that I'm now working at the Fallston Vet Clinic six days a week with extra days were Fri from 2:30 or 3pm to 7pm and Sat. from 8am-12pm. That way I get more money. Reports: Kevin Graff (ggraff@erols.com)) Counter: Kevin Graff (Nov. 5th - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-5pm (Nov.), except Mon.-Fri. 8am-2pm and Sat. 8am-12pm) SPECIES 11/05 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 32 461 525 362 BV+ 0 17 49 13 GE (imm.) 0 1 1 3 BE (10 ad. & 20 imm.) 0 30* 22 9 NH+ 0 33 48 25 SS+ 7 330* 260 106 CH+ 3 204* 153 82 NG (2 ad. males & 1 imm.) 0 3* 1 2 RS+ 2 126* 108 51 BW+ 0 12,113* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 20 320 526 339 RL 0 3 7 14 OS+ 0 84* 48 20 AK+ 0 135* 64 23 ML 0 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 64 13,913* 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 11/05 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 0 12 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 0 143 230 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+ 0 149* 5 N. Rough-winged Swallow 0 35 n/a Red-breasted Nuthatch 0 6 n/a Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 53* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 37* 7 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 0 3 4 Am. Robin+ 0 443 866 Blue Jay+ 0 2,914* 576 Cedar Waxwing 4 57* 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 4 21 ? White-throated Sparrow 3 58 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 3 49 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 5 210 ? Common Grackle+ 0 69 n/a Pine Siskin 0 3 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 0 95* 50 Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a House Finch+ 0 26 n/a Purple Finch 0 3 3 Unid. non-raptor sp.+ 58 865 4,283 (including sparrow) 81 9,838 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 11/05 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 pm= PC :Temp in the low to mid. 60's all day. Wind from the SW at 9am then changed to SWW at 11:30am. Raptor Migration Highlight: Getting lower today because of rising temp. still the Redtails and Turkey Vultures are moving in. Getting closer to 14,000 as I need 87 more, might reach 14,000 on Sun. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: It been a while since I seen any waxwings as 4 flyby headed SW at 1:30pm. Several sparrows species mixed in together except juncos which fly alone at 1:01pm. Several other sparrows seen increasing in the yard and nearby neighbor's row of 4 White Pines. 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