Greenwood Cemetery, Burlington ON. April 24 2020 Two streaky brown bird species made my day today, several Brown Creepers (nice but not unexpected) and a pair of Merlins – a big surprise and My Birds of the Day.
This post is written in the context of the Covid 19 virus lockdown. While we are actively discouraged from leaving home, common sense has its place in the fight against spreading the infection. I decided to go for exercise and explore the solitudes of an old cemetery not far from home. You could hardly call it quiet as it is flanked on one side by perhaps the province’s busiest highway but the cemetery is heavily treed and has an unkempt creek valley between it and the highway; it should hold some interesting birds particularly when the spring surge starts in a few days.
Within moments of starting I saw small movements which turned out to be several Brown Creepers busy gleaning insects from the craggy bark of mature trees. You have to be very quick to get a decent photo of a Brown Creeper, they make their way up a tree trunk so rapidly that I had trouble following them with my camera. My only success came by focussing a few feet above the bird and waiting for it to scurry up into view – then take one quick shot before it’s gone. This is the best I could manage.
The Merlins were a delight. I’m pretty sure they are a breeding pair and I’ll be back to watch for progress. One, probably the female, seemed pretty content surveying the landscape from the extreme tip of an old Norway Spruce while her mate patrolled the neighbourhood vocalising and sometimes rocketing off to chase away someone or something unwelcome, I was never sure who or what he took exception to but take exception he did. Here he is about to chase off another would-be intruder.
