The sun shone bright this morning, and I was optimistic for a trip to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. It’s still a bit early for warblers to be passing through, but the Eastern towhees are back and I spotted a couple of brown thrashers earlier in the week.
Today’s highlight was more about encountering my friend Andy than any particular bird. Andy and I hadn’t crossed paths for several weeks, but we arrived at the park within minutes of each other and had a great time catching up as we walked the trails.
We got to observe a bit of drama on the dirt trail that bisects the main Pole Farm fields as you walk up from the Cold Soil Road parking lot. As tree swallows whirled overhead, we spotted a couple of bluebirds perched on tall stalks. A little farther up the trail, we stopped near a couple of bird boxes and watched as a pair of bluebirds tried to fend off swallows threatening to move into their nesting box.
We walked a little over half a mile before turning back toward our cars. We could see a pair of kestrels on a bird box off in the distance. They were out of range for my gear, but Andy probably got a few decent shots on his Nikon with a 700mm prime lens and a 1.4x teleconverter.
As we drew closer to the parking lot, I spotted another kestrel on a stalk off the side of the trail. The bird took off and soared high over the field, then hovered in a couple of spots while Andy and I, side by side, blasted away on our cameras.
Those were the closest looks at a kestrel I’ve ever had, and I was pleased with the photo topping this post and the one below. I can’t wait to see the results Andy got, and I hope to find him again soon.
The Jersey Birder 
Saw my first Kestral this past week here (and
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