My retirement from Princeton University took effect Wednesday, and I took first opportunity to head to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. The morning was sunny and warm, and I knew those conditions would not last as a heat dome was starting to form over New Jersey and much of the Eastern United States.
As the headline notes, retirement will offer me more time for birding. One of my first objectives is to try to file e-Bird reports from the eight New Jersey counties that I have yet to visit.
On Wednesday, I logged 30 species and managed photos of several of them. A Baltimore oriole was sitting up nicely on a bare treetop branch, and I managed to capture a few clear images of him.
In recent weeks, I’ve heard Eastern meadowlarks only a few times. One flew overhead as I walked up the central path and I soon spotted one in the middle of the field to my right. As I pressed the camera shutter, I wasn’t sure if I was getting a sharp shot as the bird was surrounded by vegetation. I was happy with what I got for the circumstances.
I logged 23 common yellowthroats on my three-mile circuit, and I was only able to catch one of them with my camera. But I’m happy with that.
I look forward to observing and photographing many more birds in the months ahead and sharing my adventures with my readers. An Eastern bluebird made a rare appearance in our yard today, and I take that as a good omen! 🦅
The Jersey Birder 