Date sent:        Fri, 19 Jul 1996 09:39:45 -0400 (EDT)
From:             "Dave B. Sing" <dbs@supera.hg.med.umich.edu>
Subject:          Mount Olivet Cemetary
To:               birders@umich.edu

   Howdy!  A real hot spot these summer days has been Mt. Olivet Cemetary
 (immediately north of Beach School in Chelsea), and most especially the
 wooded western entrance.  The other evening on a drive through we counted
 four wood thushes 'pip-pip-pip!'-ing, 2 great cresteds 'greep!'-ing,
 a few 'chink!'-ing rb grosbeaks (common throughout Chelsea proper this
 summer), and saw a silent yellow warbler.  The highlight of this area
 (essentially an extension of the Beach School marsh/nature area) has 
 been a calling bobwhite, who seems to be right in the heart of the marsh
 to the south of the school and immediately west of the conifer stand
 (we call it the 'tornado woods' for it's twisted treetops). Also plenty-o
 flickers and red-bellys.  The screech owl seemed to be in our yard
 the other night, loud and haunting.  A sad note: house finch with signs
 of concunjtivitus at a friends feeder in Hell; the bird was just sitting
 still on a branch for the longest time, and after wondering I put a glass
 on him and could see the goop and crusted-shut eye.   DBS Chelsea

Date sent:        Mon, 22 Jul 1996 10:49:05 -0400 (EDT)
From:             "Dave B. Sing" <dbs@supera.hg.med.umich.edu>
Subject:          Great summer spot
To:               birders@umich.edu

   Once again I want to acclaim the western entrance to the Oak Grove/
 Mount Olivet Cemetary, through the stone gates off Madison in the
 village of Chelsea.  There are two openings in the woods on the south 
 side of the drive, and the eastern one has berry trees in fruit-- 
 rb.grosbeaks, baltimore orioles, wood thrushes, catbirds, robins(!),
 least flycatcher, great crested flycatcher, purple finch, goldfinch, 
 wb nuthatches, parus sp., hairy and downy and red-belly woodpeckers, 
 flickers (the summer of flickers, or what?), chipping, swamp,
 savannah, song, house sparrows, a calling cuckoo (black-billed I think)
 mourning doves and, well, starlings.  This may be the best place yet
 for actually observing wood thrushes; among the dozens of birds active
 in the eastern opening, at least a half-dozen were woodies, all pip!ing
 and letting out short bursts of thrush-whistle, and cavorting within
 un-aided visual distance.  A few grosbeaks are 'dirty' immatures, with 
 just patchy redness on the breast; a female oriole sat ~10 feet from me
 gnawing on berries for at least five minutes.  Red-tail (adult) flyby
 set the cacphony in motion, birds screaming and pip!ing and check!ing
 and chink!ing, as the red-wings from the adjacent marsh took off as
 a squadron to chase the lazy floating buteo away.  All this right
 in Chelsea, a five minute walk from my house and probably less from main 
 street.  I know none of these birds are outstandingly rare, but their
 abundance and prosperity is wonderful and worth checking out, and
 then you can go to Mike's for a deli break, or Sietz's for a can of
 fresh american beer and stale pretzels (the cemetary entrance is right
 at the eastern terminus of middle street, at madison).   DBS Chelsea