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. 15th - 9am-2pm) (site manned, it depends on the weather, 8am-4:30pm (Nov.), except Mon.-Fri. 8am-2pm and Sat. 8am-12pm) SPECIES 11/15 SEASON 1998 1997 TV+ 9 560* 525 362 BV+ 3 36 49 13 GE (imm.) 0 1 1 3 BE (11 ad. & 21 imm.) 0 32* 22 9 NH+ 0 36 48 25 SS+ 8 360* 260 106 CH+ 4 221* 153 82 NG (2 ad. males & 2 imm.) 1 4* 1 2 RS+ 3 193* 108 51 BW+ 0 12,113* 11,782 4,324 RT+ 26 795* 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 0 8 3 3 UF 0 2 1 n/a UR 0 2 n/a n/a 54 14,630* 13,621 5,338 Non-Raptor 11/15 SEASON 1998 Common Loon 1 36* 21 Red-throated Loon 0 3* 2 Double-cr. Cormorant 0 95 141 Great Blue Heron 0 11* 4 Tundra Swan 0 75 78 Canada Goose 14 2,336 2,934 Snow Goose 0 149 230 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 0 104* 11 Golden-crowned Kinglet 0 46* 7 Eastern Bluebird 0 6 n/a Gray Catbird 0 8 ? N. Mockingbird 0 2 n/a Hermit Thrush 0 3 4 Am. Robin+ 2 1,277* 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 Am. Tree Sparrow 0 1 ? Chipping Sparrow 0 7 ? Song Sparrow 2 28 ? White-throated Sparrow 4 99* 63 Swamp Sparrow 0 1 n/a "Slate-colored" Junco 3 85* 51 Unid. sparrow sp. 6 269 ? Red-winged Blackbird 0 60 n/a Common Grackle+ 0 84 n/a Pine Siskin 0 3 n/a Am. Goldfinch+ 0 129* 50 Evening Grosbeak 0 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.+ 11 1,159 4,283 (including sparrow) 43 11,897 14,539 (33 species) Butterfly 11/15 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= PC pm= PC/S :Temp in the mid. to high 40's all day gold NW wind. Raptor Migration Highlight: Improved well with good day for Redtails. An female imm. N. Goshawk was mobbed by about 14 Am. Crows from the treetop at the ridge and drove her away to SW overhead at 11:05am. Best year for goshawk with 4 so far this season. A kettle of 3 Black Vulture seen farther west of my yard at 11:33am headed W. Non-Raptor Migration Highlight: Single Common Loon in distance at 11:16am headed SSE and small flock of 14 Canada Goose at 11:43am headed SE. Note: The Canada Geese total for the season is higher because I forgot to add 68 on Oct. 7th. 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