Every so often, I like to take a different tack when visiting my favorite birding spots. This morning at the Pole Farm, I headed to the Blackwell Road parking lot and crossed into Mercer Meadows. My hope was to get a few photos of indigo buntings, which often sing from the trees along the walking path.
Right away, I could hear a bunting singing its sweet song. It wasn’t long before I spotted one, backlit by the sun, on a tree set back from the trail. Those photos weren’t great, but I’d later get a fair pair as I headed up the path for the “hot corner.”
That’s the nickname I’ve given to the northeast corner of the park, an area of often intense bird activity that I typically reach on days when I have ample time to visit. On this day, I made the strategic choice to spend most of the visit in that part of the park, rather than trying to traverse a two- or three-mile stretch of trails.
The strategy paid off. I quickly heard a Baltimore oriole singing and eventually spotted it hopping from branch to branch of a tall tree. One of those photos tops this post.
An indigo bunting also made an appearance, and lighting conditions were a bit better than on the first encounter.
I wandered down the trail a bit, with gray catbirds and common yellowthroats calling (to me, perhaps) and providing a nice sonic backdrop.
The trail crosses over a bridge that brings you to a wide open field on the right and woods on the left. Obligingly, wood thrushes and ovenbirds announced their presence, although they weren’t so bold as to show themselves.
Cedar waxwings also popped into view repeatedly, as I made my way toward the bridge and as I doubled back to the tree patch at the corner.
This day, my investment of time in a relatively limited area of the park paid dividends. There’s a lesson in that, I suppose. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 
Sometimes even just an area near a stream pays off. Lovely bird shots!
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