The Birding Tribe:
crowned Sparrow found in the meadow area was only the fifth record for the state( April 27, 1966). Other great birds were the Black-throated Gray Warbler( September 27, 2000), Ash-throated Flycatcher( December 1998), and Whitewinged Dove( April 22, 2005). Just last spring, three Sandhill Cranes were seen circling the Cemetery. I really wish I was here that day!
Perhaps the best record, and the only State record, is that of a Brewer’ s Sparrow that was collected on December 15, 1873, about where Willow Pond is today. The bird is in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard.
Q. A.
Speaking of which, can you tell us about your work at the Museum of Comparative Zoology( MCZ)?
I started helping at the Museum when the the
Nuttall Ornithological Club provided a grant to database the threatened and endangered species in Massachusetts, birds like the Peregrine Falcon and Grasshopper Sparrow. Eventually, I continued on to enter more of the collection. Many of the identified specimens I’ ve added to the database are from several ornithologists buried here now, notably William Brewster and Edward and Outram Bangs.
Q.
You lead many of our bird walks and always seem to know just where to go for a successful morning walk through the Cemetery. Can you share with us some of the more popular spots for birding in Mount Auburn?
A.
The Dell is one of the premier spots for spring migration. I have seen, on several occasions, the ridges of the Dell with birders all around watching birds bathe in the pool or warblers darting from bush to bush. The area around the Auburn Lake is also a great spot where one can often see a Water Thrush or a Swamp Sparrow feeding along the edge. Halcyon Lake and Willow Pond are also good spots. The oak ridge extending from the Dell to Willow Pond is good for spotting warblers since the oaks are the last trees to fully leaf out.
Q.
As a birder, it is important to be able to identify birds by sight, and then for when the leaves come out and they are harder to spot, by song. For you, what came first, the ability to identify by sight or song?
A.
Seeing them came first. The bird that really got me started was the catbird. I was at my uncle’ s rental cottage in Marshfield when this catbird landed on the corner of the chair next to me! I was also fascinated by terns, which I’ d watch diving head first into the water and coming up with fish.
Today, though, I probably do identify birds by hearing them first.
Q. A.
When did you start photographing birds?
I did a lot of photographing years ago and then I stopped. I just started again in the last three or four years. I still have boxes and boxes of slides that I should go through someday, but I probably never will.
Q. A.
Where do you bird when you aren’ t here at the Cemetery?
I’ m a big urban birder. I’ ve tried to promote that birds are everywhere. You don’ t need to go to Plum Island or Cape Cod to see them. To promote urban birding I started the Greater Boston Christmas Bird Count in 1973. I also enjoy birding in Bristol County, which tends to be under-birded, and, more recently, I have done a lot of birding in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, where my wife and I have a home by Lake Willoughby.
Q. A.
What advice can you offer for someone who is new to birding?
Join a bird club, go on bird walks, and meet people!
LEARN MORE!
Visit www. mountauburn. org / birdsandbirding for several special online features to celebrate Mount Auburn’ s past, present, and future as an important place for both birds and bird watchers. See the next page to meet more of our birders.
4 | Sweet Auburn