Week 36 - Green-Wood Cemetery

Last week saw the seasonal change birders have been anticipating. A cold front on Monday evening, with northern winds kickstarted the engine that is Fall migration. Here's a short essay that explains why.

To give you an idea of the difference that weather patterns make on southbound migratory birds, at the start of the week I tallied 36 species of birds in Green-Wood Cemetery. By the end of the week that number jumped to 55 species. In addition, it wasn't merely an increase in species, but also in overall abundance of each. Sunday saw the most profound change with 16 species of warblers observed on my morning "Birding in Peace" walk. Here's the full list: Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Prairie Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler.

Tuesday morning I met up with my friend Kevin at the Valley Water. He had texted me that there was a "fall out" of birds in that area. A Dawn Redwood at the southwest edge of the pond attacts a lot of birds during migration. It was no surprise that Kevin had been stuck in that corner for a long time, counting a profusion of birds darting around the redwood and immediate surroundings. As I was walking over to meet him, I also noticed a lot of activity within the cherry trees at the southeast edge of the pond. At the redwood there were multiple Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-side Warbler and Prairie Warbler. A pair of Eastern Wood-Pewees hawked from open perches for insects. Several Red-eyed Vireo were also present. As the mixed flock began moving counter clockwise around the pond, we decided to walk over to the cherry trees. Where we stood under the close set stand of trees, warblers seemed to be moving in all directions. Suddenly Kevin said in a baffled tone while motioning to a point in the grass a couple of yards away, "What the heck is that?" I think I may have made an audible gasp when I looked down. A tiny Sora rail was strolling through the grass towards the edge of the water. While not a particularly rare species, their preference for wetlands with dense vegetation make them difficult to see. I've seen them a few times in appropriate habitats and this was my first for the cemetery.

Sora

Veery were seen in increasing numbers and I saw my first Swainson's Thrush of the season. Sunday also brought a few Scarlet Tanagers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Olive-sided Flycatchers to Green-Wood.

Tennessee Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

Baltimore Oriole eating Porcelain Berries

Veery

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

We should be seeing more migrating raptors soon, especially Broad-winged Hawk. I have noticed, however, more Osprey and Bald Eagles on the move.

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Wood-Asters are suddenly decorating the understory of the more wooded areas of the cemetery, as is White Snakeroot and Autumn Clematis. The latter of which is an introduced species and may be considered invasive.

White Wood-Aster

White Snakeroot

Autumn Clematis

A beautiful wildflower of the shaded understory that was new to me is the aptly named Turtlehead. Despite its exotic appearance, it is actually endemic to North America.

Turtlehead (Chelone lyonii)

Here are some other notable botanics from last week. The Seven-sons tree, which permeated the air with its cinamon-like fragrance, attracted an abundance of late season pollinators. Autumn Crocuses are sprouting, mostly close to the ponds. Goldenrod and pink hued Spotted Beebalm dominate the wildflower meadow with scattered patches of white Late Boneset.

Seven-sons tree (Heptacodium miconioides)

Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale)

Spotted Beebalm and Goldenrod

Late Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum)

Here are some of the fruiting plants that caught my attention last week. Note that the milkweed pod is technically the fruit, but I included the dispersing seeds here because, why not?

Crabapple

Cucumber Magnolia

Milkweed seeds

Porcelain Berry

Mock Strawberry (Potentilla indica)

Cortland Apple (Malus domestica 'Cortland')

Two weeks ago I had a young European Mantis land on my camera while I was previewing some photos at Hill of Graves. This species (Mantis religiosa) is not as common here as the Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis). Neither have been very plentiful this year, but that may just be me overlooking them due to their camouflage. I stumbled on the latter last week as it was trying to sneak up on some skipper butterflies. I think I blew his cover. Just wish they would stick to eating Spotted Lanternflies. Here's a link to an identification guide.

European Mantis

Chinese Mantis