Birds in the snow: an increasingly rare treat

We had two snowfalls this week, on Tuesday and overnight into this morning. Because the snow has been so scarce the past few winters, I made sure to get outside with my camera in hopes of getting some nice shots of birds in the elements.

I didn’t get a great shot but I didn’t get shut out, either.

Three inches or so greeted us Tuesday morning. I made a short visit to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, but the footing was treacherous and I turned back to the car after a short walk, not having snapped a single frame. I went to Plan B, shooting for a few minutes from inside the house at the feeders out back.

Tuesday’s snow was mostly gone when it began snowing again early this morning. This time, I was more sure of my footing when I got to the Pole Farm.

The first bird I saw was a red-shouldered hawk that often is perched near the Cold Soil Road parking lot. Today, it was up in one of the first trees one passes when leaving the lot, and I was pleased to get a feather-friendly view through the lens.

While overall I saw only a few birds, six female harriers were out in one of the main fields (one tops this post), and I caught a few Eastern bluebirds along the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail as I returned to my car.

When I returned home, there was a lot of action at the feeders on our front lawn, including the house sparrow and the dark-eyed junco in the gallery below.

In the afternoon, I drove over to Mercer County Park in a vain effort to find bald eagles. The only birds I saw were a great blue heron that flew over the lake, and the ring-billed gull standing on a pier with just a small amount of snow nearby.

I didn’t get the “wow” bird-in-the-snow photo I’d hoped for either day, but the snow was a welcome change in environment, a nice counterbalance to the controlled burn at Mercer Meadows last week. Even better: enough snow melted quickly that I had only minimal shoveling to do.

And speaking of shoveling, I’m hoping to see some Northern shovelers next weekend!