Week 43 - Green-Wood Cemetery

I'm going to begin this installment of my weekly Green-Wood Cemetery nature updates with a little bit of self-indulgence. October 21st through the 27th was as close as you'll get to peak foliage in Brooklyn. That said, the first section will be all trees. Following the foliage photos, I'll continue with the latest bird, botanic and insect observations.

Black Tupelo

Golden Rain Tree

Bottlebrush Buckeye

Sugar Maple

Japanese Maple

Sweetgum

Crepe Myrtle

Kentucky Coffee Tree

River Birch

Sassafras

Three Flower Maple

Shagbark Hickory

Sparrows continued to increase in abundance, especially Chipping Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. By midweek I observed flocks of both species that numbered in the hundreds.

Chipping Sparrows

Dark-eyed Junco

Lincoln's Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Late week there was a big incursion of migrating Hermit Thrushes. Up to that point I had seen a small number in the cemetery, but on Friday I tallied (conservatively) 40. That number was for the small area that I covered, so could probably multiply that by four for the entire cemetery.

Hermit Thrush

A few species which still seem to be on the increase, and I expect to see in good numbers through the winter are: Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Purple Finch and American Goldfinch.

White-throated Sparrow, House Finch, Purple Finch, goldfinch

Tufted Titmouse

Blue Jay

White-breasted Nuthatch

A few lingering species seen last week who generally do not overwinter and should be dispersing soon are Eastern Meadowlark, Winter Wren and Common Yellowthroat.

Eastern Meadowlark

Winter Wren

Common Yellowthroat

Finally, the bird that everyone loves to see (although their camouflage frequently renders them invisible) migrated through the cemetery in good numbers on Friday. The American Woodcock is so adept at hiding in plain sight that, at one point, I flushed five while looking directly at the spot where they were roosting. I didn't see them until they burst from the underbrush, wings whistling and zoomed right by me. Fortunately I did manage to sneak up on a few and take several photos.

American Woodcock

The Threadleaf Bluestar has gone to seed, but the stems and leaves that remain recall sunset colors. Other botanics that caught my attention last week were Tansy, Autumn Phlox and Pampas Grass.

Threadleaf Bluestar

Tansy with Bumblebees

Autumn Phlox

Pampas Grass

There is now an abundance of rose hips around the historic chapel and on the adjacent ridge to help keep the birds nourished through the winter.

Rose hips

Prior to last week the only dragonflies that I was still seeing around the cemetery was the Eastern Green Darner. Those are now being slowly supplanted by Autumn Meadowhawks. From what I've been able to find, not a lot is know about there migration. If you are interested in migratory dragonflies here's a link to a good document on the subject.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Lastly, another migratory species which I thought had finished their cycle this season is the Sachem skipper. I've since learned that this species flight can occur as late as November. I guess I've never really noticed them at this time of year.

Sachem skipper feeding on Boneset