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. 8th - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-4:30pm (Nov.), except Mon.-Fri. 8am-2pm and Sat. 8am-12pm) SPECIES 11/08 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 25 537* 525 362 BV+ 14* 31 49 13 GE (imm.) 0 1 1 3 BE (11 ad. & 21 imm.) 2 32* 22 9 NH+ 0 34 48 25 SS+ 5 344* 260 106 CH+ 4 214* 153 82 NG (2 ad. males & 1 imm.) 0 3* 1 2 RS+ 20 178* 108 51 BW+ 0 12,113* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 122* 714* 526 339 RL 0 4 7 14 OS+ 0 84* 48 20 AK+ 0 136* 64 23 ML 0 36* 15 7 PG 0 5* 4 2 SW - - 1 n/a UA+ 0 2 3 4 UB 2 8 3 3 UF 0 2 1 n/a UR 0 2 n/a n/a 194 14,480* 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 11/08 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 0 32* 21 Red-throated Loon 0 3* 2 Double-cr. Cormorant 0 92 141 Great Blue Heron 0 11* 4 Canada Goose 67 2,117 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 0 135 467 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 16* 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 7 77* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 39* 7 Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 0 3 4 Am. Robin+ 0 1,256* 866 Blue Jay+ 0 2,914* 576 Cedar Waxwing 0 161* 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 7 ? Song Sparrow 0 26 ? White-throated Sparrow 0 93* 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 3 67* 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 5 241 ? Red-winged Blackbird 0 60 n/a Common Grackle+ 0 84 n/a Pine Siskin 0 3 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 23 118* 50 Evening Grosbeak 1 1 n/a Scarlet Tanager+ 0 1 (female) n/a House Finch+ 0 26 n/a Purple Finch 0 3 3 Unid. non-raptor sp.+ 19 991 4,283 (including sparrow) 125 11,302 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 11/08 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= PC/S :Temp in the mid 50's. Wind from the NW all day. Cold and light wind. Raptor Migration Highlight: Bang!! Another incredible day for Redtails and Red-shouldered Hawks. More than half of a total hawks today and yesterday seen flying far east side of the ridge. New season record for Turkey Vultures and new single day record for Black Vulture, the previous record was 10 on Oct. 24, 1998. The Redtails total for the season is incredible and the best in the history of Backyard Hawk Watch. The hawk totals for 11/7 and 11/8 is 475. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: A big day for goldfinches with a flock of 9 around noon and a flock of 14 at 12;16pm and season first grosbeak flyby, but never visit the feeders. 3 flocks of Canada Geese including 30 at 9:31am headed SE, 29 at 9:35am headed SE and 8 at 9:59am headed SE. 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