[MDOsprey] [BIRDHAWK] Backyard Hawk Watch
Geoff Graff (ggraff@erols.com)
Sat, 06 Nov 1999 22:00:15 -0500
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. 6th - 7:30am & 1:30pm-5pm)
(site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-5pm (Nov.), except
Mon.-Fri. 8am-2pm and Sat. 8am-12pm)
SPECIES 11/06 SEASON 1998 1997
TV+ 6 467 525 362
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+ 1 331* 260 106
CH+ 2 206* 153 82
NG (2 ad. males & 1 imm.) 0 3* 1 2
RS+ 2 128* 108 51
BW+ 0 12,113* 11,782 4,324
RT+ 80 400 526 339
RL 0 3 7 14
OS+ 0 84* 48 20
AK+ 1 136* 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
92 14,005* 13,621 5,338
Non-Raptor 11/06 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 26 1,995 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 4 57* 11
Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 37* 7
Gray Catbird 0 8 ?
N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a
Hermit Thrush 0 3 4
Am. Robin+ 811 1,254* 866
Blue Jay+ 0 2,914* 576
Cedar Waxwing 50 107* 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 21 ?
White-throated Sparrow 5 63 63
Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a
"Slate-colored" Junco 0 49 51
Unid. sparrow sp. 13 223 ?
Red-winged Blackbird 60 60 n/a
Common Grackle+ 7 76 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.+ 79 944 4,283 (including sparrow)
1,055 10,893 14,539 (33 species)
Butterfly 11/06 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= n/a pm= PC :Temp in the low to mid. 60's all afternoon.
Wind from the NWW until after 2:30pm changed to W rest of the day.
Raptor Migration Highlight: New single day record for Redtails in only
three and a half hours. The previous record was 70 on Oct. 29, 1998. One
of the interesting things was a long stream of 37 Redtails between
2:34pm and 2:38pm. Well, I got over 14,000 hawks today, not bad.
Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: It been a busy 3 and a half hours with
all those huge flocks especially Am. Robins, most of them headed SE. A
flock of 26 Canada Geese headed SE at 7:30am before I went to work at
8am. At 3:22pm, as the Redtail glide over a treetop near Mary Ave., a
block north of my site, a flock of 50 Cedar Waxwing took off trying to
drive off the hawk but later left for SE. Am. Robins started after
3:30pm with flocks of 23, 1, 60, 6, 14, 30, 1, 20, 89, 27, 4, 25, 59,
18, 5, 5, 19, 16, 80, 73, 20, 31, 71, 13, 19, 5, 37, and 40, ending at
5pm. The best day for Am. Robins.
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