Week 44 - Green-Wood Cemetery

The seasonal gears keep turning with a few changes to report from last week in the cemetery.

I'll start with the new arrivals. Towards the end of the week we saw a lot of blackbirds heading south. In particular, large flocks of Common Grackles with Red-winged Blackbirds mixed it passed overhead. I observed a small flock of Rusty Blackbirds foraging along the now muddy edges of Crescent Water. This species is in severe decline, so was happy to see four of them together.

Rusty Blackbird

Cedar Waxwings are now being seen in good numbers. This handsome bird will now be brightening gloomy days through the winter months. Look for them in fruiting trees and vines.

Cedar Waxwing

The arrival that made me the happiest last week was of the Eastern Bluebird. I first spotted a flock of ten at Cedar Dell, stopping off to feed on crabapples. There were smaller flocks scattered through the cemetery. On Sunday a large flock was feeding on grasshoppers and crickets at the Hill of Graves. There are a few records of individuals that overwintered here, but sadly most will continue farther south.

Eastern Bluebird

The previous week's southbound push of American Woodcock was very brief, with only a single remaining individual observed last week.

American Woodcock

Hermit Thrushes continued to be seen in fairly high numbers. This is another half-hardy species and a few often remain through the cold months.

Hermit Thrush

Our typical winter guests continue to increase in abundance. Black-capped Chickdees and Tufted Titmouse top the list. Last winter they were curiously absent or seen in very low numbers. They appear to be on track to return to historically normal seasonal populations.

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Dark-eyed Juncos and Chipping Sparrows made a huge increase in abundace, with mixed flocks numbering in the low hundreds. While large junco flocks usually stick around all winter, the Chipping Sparrows tend to move on with only a few individuals staying around until Spring.

Dark-eyed Junco

Chipping Sparrow

Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper's Hawks and American Kestrels have been joined by a couple of Merlins. The kestrels are the smallest and lightest of the predators vying for food in the cemetery. However, don't tell them that as they regularly harass the competition, including the much faster Merlin. There is a tree behind the Steinway mausoleum that I call "The Merlin Tree". High above the open grass of the Locust Grove, they sit in wait for any inattentive sparrows.

Merlin

The only new botanic I noticed blooming last week was Yellow Toadflax. Also known as "Butter-and-eggs", this non-native species is lovely, but considered invasive.

Yellow Toadflax

I noticed some of the robins switching their diet from crabapple to winterberry. In addition to robins, this animal friendly species is eaten by catbirds, mockingbirds, waxwings, bluebirds, and probably a whole host of others.

Winterberry