This is a golden time for birding, with the fall color peaking and enough leaves falling to increase the odds of seeing more birds in the branches. This morning was a nice example, as my pal Jim and I headed to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm.
The sun was out in full, shining liberally on the song, swamp and Savannah sparrows flitting about the fields and woods. A Savannah sitting atop a cluster of red berries tops this post, my best shot of the day.
Another favorite is this single frame I got of a raggedy-feathered blue jay surrounded by orange leaves, a split second before it flew off.
Jim and I made a big loop around the park, and on our way back to the car we saw a lot of activity at a big puddle on the path to the old AT&T Building One site.
Of the hundreds of visits I’ve made to the Pole Farm, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen more than a single bird cavorting in a puddle. Today, white-throated sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers and American robins were dipping in and out of the big puddle. Its water glowed a golden orange, the light reflected from trees in the background.
This is also the high season for yellow-rumped warblers. I got one shot of two of them just off the puddle, but it’s a bit dark and, um, muddy. So I’ll close with the following shot of one of the yellow-rumps that settled nearby in slightly better light. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 