Bird Walk

At the start (I'm the one in the khaki shorts).
Picture courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation FB page.

This was the first event of the season at Cedar Hill Cemetery. And it was for early risers! Note the start time (below).

Feathered Friends Walk

Saturday, May 14, 6:30 am

Free for All

Join Jay Kaplan from Roaring Brook Nature Center for his annual bird walk at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Jay will lead participants through our ornamental foreground in search of resident birds. Appropriate hiking shoes and binoculars are strongly recommended. Meet near the bridge along the entrance drive.

Despite the early start, I estimate about 35-40 people attended. When we ended shortly after 10 a.m., we were down to about 20 people.

Note that the description above indicates that the walk will be through the "ornamental foreground." I didn't realize what the meant. The Grounds page of the web site describes it this way:

One of the most impressive feature of Cedar Hill’s landscape is the ornamental foreground, which serves to seclude the burial sections of the Cemetery from the roadway.  Much of Cedar Hill’s wildlife is sustained in this natural habitat encompassing more than 65 acres of ponds and woodlands.

I thought we would be walking the cemetery proper but we actually were walking in the woods that surround the cemetery. The grass was pretty wet due to the dew-hence the reason for the knee high rubber boots seen in the pictures.

This was near the end of the "walk." Jay Kaplan, who led the walk, is wearing a green shirt
and cap; he is in the foreground (2nd from right). I am on the left side of the picture.
Picture courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation FB page.

In addition to tramping around the woods and meadows surrounding the cemetery, we stopped at two overlooks with views to the valley beyond. The first overlook was right above a giant quarry operation. To the left (out of the picture below) was a cliff with a radio tower that had a falcon perched on top. It was so far away that even my binoculars only saw a brown smudge.

View of the quarry below.

The second overlook had an awesome view of the valley.

Conveniently, the fence had an opening so we could get a clearer view.

This is the view from the rocky outcrop.

This is a side view of the rocky outcrop.

But where are the pictures of the birds you might ask. Well, all I had was my binoculars and my cell phone (camera). No one has posted any good shots of the birds (except for a heron). Below is a list of birds that the GROUP spotted. I probably saw about 10-15. Cardinals and blue jays were easy as was the "Elusive" robin. The red-winged blackbird is very common around the cemetery.

Below is the list of birds (57 species) we saw and or heard:

• Canada Goose
• Wood Duck
• Mallard Duck
• Great Blue Heron
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Peregrine Falcon
• Killdeer
• Solitary Sandpiper
• Rock Pigeon
• Mourning Dove
• Black-billed Cuckoo
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• Eastern Phoebe
• Great Crested Flycatcher
• Warbling Vireo
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Common Raven
• Tree Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Tufted Titmouse
• House Wren
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Wood Thrush
• American Robin
• Gray Catbird
• Northern Mockingbird
• European Starling
• Northern Parula
• Yellow Warbler
• Magnolia Warbler
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Pine Warbler
• Black-and-white Warbler
• American Redstart
• Ovenbird
• Common Yellowthroat
• Scarlet Tanager
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Northern Cardinal
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak
• Indigo Bunting
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Orchard Oriole
• Baltimore Oriole
• House Finch
• American Goldfinch
• House Sparrow

This was my first bird walk. It was fun and challenging. Being deaf in one ear made it difficult to spot birds because the experts follow their calls/chirps/songs in order to spot them (and identify). As you might guess from the pictures, there were a few stiff necks after this walk.

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Links:
https://www.facebook.com/cedarhillcemeteryfoundation/

http://www.roaringbrook.org/home.html
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/grounds
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Written Saturday May 21, 2016.