Because it is grafting season, I decided to spend a few hours of my weekend in search of witch's brooms.

At first, the results were rather disappointing with this apparently deceased Pinus sylvestris broom (bird's nest?) I spied on my way to work.
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The search resumed Sunday afternoon in the 2-hour window I had before it got dark. The cemetery had nothing to offer, so I drove through the nearby neighborhood and found a witch's broom in our native Tsuga heterophylla.
It appears to have a relatively thick and dense branching structure with many cones..
It's difficult to tell the overall form of the broom from underneath, but it looks promising.
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When I went back to take some pictures of that broom today, I noticed something strange occurring with the Calocedrus decurrens in the back yard of the same residence.
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Is it a witch's broom or is this dense growth simply a response to some dieback the tree experienced?
Whatever made it occur caused it to form a clumped, natural topiary look.
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It's amazing what you'll find if only you take a few minutes to look!

Let me know what you all think. Is the hemlock definitely heterophylla? I was wondering if it was canadensis...

Thanks for any and all input!

-Sam