The thermometer read 27 degrees this morning, but the sun was shining and it brought out the birds at John A. Roebling Park on the Trenton-Hamilton border. Before our outing at this thriving section of Abbott Marshlands was over, with considerable help from sharp-eyed birding buddy Jim, I’d observed 40 species of birds. Not to mention a muskrat!
We (Jim and I, not the muskrat) had several highlights, not the least of which was a Wilson’s snipe standing on the edge of the marsh, a little too far away for me to get a crisp shot worth sharing.
We watched two (possibly three) blue-winged teals fly across the marsh, although I didn’t have time to react and snap photos.
I’m topping this post with a photo of an American coot that was navigating amid some branches near the shore of the Spring Lake. The bird turned toward us and the sun several times, giving us good looks at its white beak, orange eyes and its dinosaur-like green legs and feet.
The trail along the lake was busy with birds — golden-crowned kinglets, lots of yellow-rumped warblers, and a gorgeous pine warbler that flitted above us.
We saw a handful of brown creepers throughout the park, a bird I rarely find and had never photographed. Today was a game-changer. The last one we saw accommodatingly crept up a tree branch slowly enough that I was able to take several photos, most of them partially obscuring the bird but two came out OK.
The time we spent at the park got us stoked for the warmer weather ahead and all the warblers and other migrants that will be coming our way. 🦅
The Jersey Birder 