Spring Bird Migration at Spring Grove Cemetery

Theme: Spring Migration
Location: Spring Grove Cemetery
Date and Time: Sunday, May 15 2022, 8:00 AM
Meet: At 8:00 a.m. just beyond the tunnel at the Spring Grove main Spring Grove Ave. entrance. See directions below
Co-Leader: Jack Stenger, (513) 503-3389, jackstenger@gnail.com
Co-Leader: Denis Conover, (513) 513-641-3651, conovedg@hotmail.com

*Note that this is a joint Field Trip conducted with the Lloyd Library who are celebrating birds and spring migration with many events this spring season.

The Lloyd Library, well known as a wonderful library preserving and specializing in botanical books also has a little-known part of its collection dedicated to ornithology. So they decided to celebrate the migration of birds during this spring season through a number of programs and events. This joint field trip with our Audubon Society is one of those events. Check out the Lloyd Library website for more details. https://lloydlibrary.org/

The focus of this field trip will be on migrant songbirds, especially warblers, as the spring migration of northward bound neo-tropical species is at peak during mid-May. Spring blooms and plants are also at peak during this period and they will also be pointed out during this morning walk through the beautiful grounds of Spring Grove Cemetery. Our co-leaders, Denis Conover and Jack Stenger, are both expert birders and naturalists. Denis is a University of Cincinnati professor who specializes in botany and Jack is a conservation biologist with the Hamilton County Great Parks whose specialty is birds. Together they are a formidable pair and with them as our leaders we won’t miss much.

Birds will be very vocal and with Jack and Denis’s guidance we can expect to see (and hear) many species of warblers as well as many other songbirds including flycatchers, vireos, swallows, thrushes, tanagers, sparrows, grosbeaks, buntings, orioles and finches among others. The park like grounds at Spring Grove (733 acres) are beautiful at all seasons, but especially so during the spring. Spring Grove Cemetery is a good example of a “migrant trap”. Birds migrating through our urban and residential areas are drawn to this “island of green” in an otherwise heavily populated area to forage and rest before continuing on their way. At times the birding can be spectacular.

Jack and Denis’s plan is to take a leisurely walk throughout the cemetery grounds and see what we can find. The trip will mostly be on foot, but walking will be at an easy birding pace with frequent stops to observe birds and plants. Our leaders may caravan us at some point to move to another section of the cemetery. This trip will end at some time around noon. You of course can break off at any time you choose. Binoculars are necessary to see small birds well. Restrooms are available at the cemetery. Water and sunscreen might make for a more enjoyable trip. If you have any questions feel free to contact Denis or Jack.

Meet our field trip leaders at 8 AM at the main entrance to Spring Grove Cemetery, located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue just west of the Winton Road intersection. To find our meeting spot, drive in the main gates and go straight. You will go through a short tunnel (old RR archway). Just beyond the tunnel pull over on the right and park alongside the road.

You can visit the Spring Grove Cemetery website at:
https://www.springgrove.org/locations/spring-grove-cemetery-arboretum/