While pulling into the Pole Farm parking lot the other day, I declared my goal: to spot an American tree sparrow. Reports of the winter-visit birds had been trickling in on e-Bird, but I’d yet to see one this season.
I was in luck, however, on this day-before-Christmas visit. I’d brought along my friend Jim, who has logged more species in Mercer County than anyone on e-Bird and has near-instant recognition of any bird appearing.
We were hoping to spot a long-eared owl, as we’d seen one in the woods the week before. We checked in the areas where we’ve seen long-eared owls in years past but couldn’t find any.
Jim spotted a hermit thrush at the old AT&T Building One site, and the bird parked in a cedar tree long enough for us to get good looks at it.
As we exited the woods and headed down the trail back to the car, I spotted a few sparrows to my left and started shooting. Jim quickly made the ID: American tree sparrows — eureka!
I’ve made a couple of quick visits to the Pole Farm late in the day lately in the hope of spotting short-eared owls, which typically emerge just before dawn and at sunset. I had spotted one earlier this month, but it appeared to be an anomaly.
As one of my other birder friends noted, you can tell the owls aren’t out because the Cold Soil Road parking lot isn’t full at 4 p.m. as it is when the shorties are hunting in force.
Even though I’ve seen only the one short-eared owl, I have seen a few Northern harriers at sunset, including the “gray ghost” male. I haven’t captured the ghost on camera yet this season, but I’ll keep trying. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 