It’s the Labor Day holiday in the United States, and I headed out onto the trails of the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm hoping that I’d get a glimpse of the early-arriving migrating warblers that had eluded me.
I did spot black-and-white and prairie warblers while hanging out near the old AT&T Building One oval with expert birder Jim Parris. But that wasn’t the highlight of this relatively cool morning with the sun only partially out. As Jim and I were scouting a nearby patch of trees in what I call “the warbler wall,” Jim spotted a yellow-bellied flycatcher. It was a ways off, and I got a quick look through binoculars before it darted away. It popped out a short while later, again offering only a fleeting glance and no chance for a photo.
But lo and behold, the flycatcher reappeared maybe 30 feet to our right, perched on a deer exclosure fence. It’s a pretty bird, with its yellow-wash breast, bicolor bill and striking wingbars.
It was a lifer for me, number 221 (197 in New Jersey), and the memory will keep me smiling for a good time to come.
The Jersey Birder 