I saw them there today, Sat. Dec. 1, from 11:15 to 11:30 am when I left.
They got up and flew as a group every few minutes, but always came back
to the row of Hemlocks at the northwest corner of the cemetary, or occasionally
sat on top of one of the nearby deciduous trees. When they flew, I counted
approximately 35-40 birds. When in the trees, I saw mostly red adult males,
with the occasional gray-yellow female or younger bird. If you search there,
give yourself at least 10 minutes to wait for them to move around and show
themselves, or look for them to flit from treetop to treetop going through
the hemolck cones. They seemed to be ignoring the pines on the other side
of the cemetary; evidently they prefer the hemlock cone seeds.
Druid Ridge Cemetary is outside the northwest corner of Baltimore. From the
Beltway, take Park Heights south, and watch for the cemetary entrance on the
right (west). If coming from Towson, you'll have to take the Stevenson Road
exit, turn left, then right on Brooks Robinson Drive to connect to Park
Heights Avenue, turn left on that, then right when you reach the cemetary
entrance. Going in, work your way to the far end - you'll see the row
of Hemlocks (evergreen trees); park next to them near one end of the row
and walk along the row looking up for movement in the treetops or for a
flock of about 30-40 house finch size birds flying to or from them. Their
call is even vaguely similar to house finches, but a bit raspier.
Pete Webb
Baltimore, MD
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