Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn An Oasis for Birds and Birders | Page 7

A Celebration of Mount Auburn’s Birding Community
Meet our Birders!
“Birding in Mount Auburn in May is like going to an annual garden
party where the guests are the birds in migration dressed in fes-
tive colors, often singing out to announce their presence as they
circulate among the trees and around the ponds.
We are the reporters covering the daily events with binoculars
and notebook in hand. Each day we seek out the anticipated ar-
rivals, greeting each one by name. Throughout the month when
we spot an unexpected guest, we try to share the sighting with
the other birders: ‘in which tree?’ ‘how high up?,’ then a burst of
applause as the target bird takes a bow in the sunshine.
The party isn’t over until we’ve seen the Mourning Warbler,
usually the last arrival at the end of May, when most of the other
guests have already departed for their nesting areas further north.”
— Sue Denison
Red-bellied Woodpecker
by Rich Turk
“I travel up and down the east coast from
Machias, Me., to Miami, Fla., in search of birds
to photograph, yet some of the best shots I’ve
taken have been two miles from home at Mount
Auburn Cemetery. It’s hard to single out one
great birding moment because there have
been so many, like watching a brood of Mallard
Ducklings being fed by their mother, or seeing
a Red-tailed Hawk fly off a tree in pursuit of a
squirrel, or proud Great Horned Owls guarding
their chicks.
What amazes me about Mount Auburn Cemetery is the great
diversity of bird life that can be found in every season. All you
have to do is find a good spot, like near any of the three lakes or
the Dell, stay quiet, and ‘don’t just do something, stand there.’
You will not be disappointed.”
— Rich Turk
“A Worm-eating Warbler had not
been seen in the area in several
years. I wasn’t feeling well, and I had
joined Bob Stymeist’s trip at 6 am
but was not able to keep up with him.
While trying to catch up, and walk-
ing through the Dell, I came across a
Worm-eating Warbler. I finally caught
up with Bob at Willow Pond. I told
Worm-eating Warbler by
him about it, but I don’t think he
Jeremiah Trimble
believed me because he continued
to walk around the pond very slowly. I was able to keep up with
him and he went back through the Dell. When he got to where I
had seen the bird, he heard it and pronounced “WORM-EATING
WARBLER!” Now, that was fun but on the next day, I went to see
it again to find the Dell jammed with birders. They were lined up
on both the lower and upper paths making the Dell look like an
amphitheater. Fortunately, they got to see the bird.”
“My first Indigo Bunting seen at Willow Pond, the day I saw 14
warblers in one hour in May 2007, or when the Great Horned
male finally mated in the Dell… when I first took my kids after
purchasing them a Peterson Field Guide and binoculars, and
they spotted several birds and highlighted and dated their see’s
in their books (of course they loved the Tower and Spectacle
Pond most)!”
— Jay Joyce
“My favorite birding experience at Mount Auburn Cemetery oc-
curred about 12 years ago on Indian Ridge on a beautiful spring
day in early May. On this day I remember there being more
species of songbirds than I had ever seen
in any one place. In a large, white oak tree
along the path there were several Yellow-
rumped Warblers, a Black-thr oated Blue
Warbler, a Black-throated Green Warbler,
an Indigo Bunting, a Northern Parula, and
a Black-and-white Warbler all singing and
foraging. This was around the time when I
first started birding, and I was amazed at
the great diversity of songbirds that could
Yellow-rumped Warbler by be found at Mount Auburn during spring
Brooks Mathewson
migration. Ever since this first spring I have
been visiting each April and May as often as I can to observe and
photograph songbird migration. Each visit always brings memo-
rable experiences observing birds as well as great interactions
with knowledgeable and genuinely kind and interesting birders.”     
— Brooks Mathewson
“I had 15 minutes between appointments and, in passing through
the Cemetery, noticed that
the Tower was now open
to the public. I thought a
landscape shot of Boston
from the top of the Tower
would be a nice, quick
shot. So, off I went. Three
people were coming
Red-tail on Tower Railing by
down as I went up. I
Anne Haggerty
arrived at the top and as
soon as I started to focus on Boston, I heard the hawk’s call...and
then I watched as he floated up and landed on the railing right
next to me. As you can see from the photo, my first instinct was
to shoot pictures.”
— Anne Haggerty
“Two springs ago I watched a juvenile Red-tail screaming for his
mother, who was only a few trees away but completely ignoring
him. He perched on top of one of the taller headstones and kept
it up for ten minutes!”
— Roly Chaput
— Ida Giriunas
Spring/Summer 2012 | 5