I visited the cemetery today for two hours (1:40 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.). There was a lot of bird activity, especially in sections 124, 125, 53, 132, 133, 39, 52 and 51. Winter food supply is as follows: hemlock cones - abundant, spruce cones - moderate (some not yet ripe), berries - abundant and acorns - abundant. Despite this, the only "irruptive" species I could find were the red-breasted nuthatches. They were utilizing both the conifers and deciduous trees - namely hemlock, spruce and silver maple. The male RBNU I saw on the 6th was using white ash to retrieve cached seeds and nuts as well as white pine. I casually searched for owl sign and found a probable great horned roost in section 57. There was significant whitewash under a large white pine in addition to the bones and feathers of what appeared to be a crow wing. Another highlight was 4 chipping sparrows, three of which were foraging among a flock of 62+ juncos milling about sections 51 and 52.
The vast majority of chickadees found were feeding on hemlock cones. In the past I have seen white-winged crossbills and pine siskins in these same trees but no luck with these winter finches today. The plethora of acorns provided a favorite food source for blue jays, titmice and red-bellied woodpeckers. The abundant berries among the various fruit producing plants provided sustenance to robins, starlings, mockingbirds, cardinals and white-throated sparrows.
Canada Goose 13
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 9
Downy Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 66
Carolina Chickadee 37
Tufted Titmouse 7
Red-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 8
American Robin 135
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 82
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 20
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 95
Northern Cardinal 8
American Goldfinch 4
--
David A. Brinkman
Cincinnati, OH
* Spring Grove Cemetery is in Hamilton county accessed from Mitchell Ave. Exit, I-75 South (next exit after I-74).
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