We woke up to clear skies and brilliant sunshine this morning, which turned out to be nice conditions for an outing at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. The highlight was getting to see a male Northern harrier twice swooping along the tree line up the central path, once from a distance and once close enough to get a couple of fair photos.
While the females like the one topping this post are abundant, the males live up to their “gray ghost” nickname. Only a few times a year do I have the privilege of seeing one, and I’ve seen them relatively close only a few times.
Also today, I hit the sparrow trifecta: song sparrows followed by savannah sparrows and, eventually, American tree sparrows. I expected to see the songs and the savannahs, but the tree sparrows are scarcer and an extra treat whenever I encounter them.
The Jersey Birder 