By Brian Wulker, age 17

The “official” objective of this field trip was to find winter finches and grosbeaks, both of which species were unlikely. The “unofficial” goals included Merlin, Fox Sparrow, finches, and really anything we could get. We birded the cemetery for just over two hours, and it was pretty slow, and it also included some periods of heavy sleet.

Species list for Spring Grove Cemetery:
Canada Goose
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Red- tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Golden-Crowned kinglet
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch

After a thorough inspection of Spring Grove, our group decided to head over to another Cincinnati cemetery to look for Merlins. Old and New St. Joe’s cemetery is usually a reliable spot for Merlins but not this time. Hardly a bird other than crows was seen in either of them.

With the lack of productivity, our fearless leaders Dave and Jill Russell suggested we try for a Rough-legged Hawk that had been reported near Germantown, Ohio. We struck out on the Rough-legged Hawk, but we picked up some new species for the day on our northward excursion.

Germantown Metro Park Species List:
Canada Goose
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Horned Lark
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
American Tree Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Dark-Eyed Junco
Snow Bunting
Lapland Longspur
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Overall, despite a low turnout people-wise, it was a great trip, and although the birds were quiet early on, I think we ended up with a species count in the low 40s. The only ironic thing about this field trip was that the main focus was winter finches, which everyone knew was unlikely. Well, two weeks later, on January 29, White-Winged Crossbills showed up at Spring Grove Cemetery, and persisted for several days. We had the right place, we were just too early.