A suprisingly good morning for photos

After a few days of rain and a forecast for heavy clouds today, I wasn’t expecting good conditions for photos as I headed to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning.

I was hoping that I might be able to spot a few early arriving warblers in the trees, which wasn’t to be. But I had surprisingly good fortune to find several birds out in the open and within range for my camera.

Walking up from the parking lot, I took the tree-lined path to my left. Other than a couple of glimpses of robins and blackbirds, nothing caught my eye.

As I cleared the woods and rounded the curve toward the observation deck, I heard two Eastern meadowlarks calling to one another, one on each side of the trail. It took a few minutes before I spotted the one to my right perched on a post. The bird was backlit, and my photos were poor.

I had better luck to my left. As I passed the observation deck, I flushed the other meadowlark, which flew only a few yards back into the grass. One of the shots tops this post, and I’ve stitched in an even sharper shot here in the text.

I then entered the central woods of the park but didn’t see much on the first two stretches of trail. I decided not to make my usual turn to cross the woods but to stay straight on the trail until I reached the edge of the Reed-Bryan Farm side of the park.

Feeling good, I figured I would increase my chances of seeing more birds if I went through the Reed Bryan fields. After slogging through two muddy stretches of the trail, I was rewarded with a nice view of a Northern flicker, one of at least three I observed.

Moments later, I heard and then saw my first Eastern towhee of the year. I also heard at least one wild turkey gobbling in the distance, another first report for 2025.

I reached the AT&T Building One oval but didn’t find anything to shoot. I finally turned toward the parking lot, following the dirt path that splits the main fields.

I came upon another birder who had just seen a Vesper sparrow, a bird that has bedeviled me. I have yet to see one, and today would be no different.

That disappointment dissipated down the trail, when I spotted a couple of Eastern bluebirds. One flew away from me, but not so far that I couldn’t catch it parked on a branch, its brilliant blue feathers shimmering vibrantly in the filtered sunlight.

That’s a pretty good day of birding and nature photography! 🦅