If you’re wondering if warblers are still hanging around in New Jersey in mid-July, the answer is yes. It helps to travel to the Pine Barrens to find them, as my pal Jim and I did this morning.
We headed to the MIchael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve, stopping in two areas. The first was a dirt road from a turnoff from Sooy Place Road. The dirt road bisects hunting club property, and we pulled off in two spots.
At the first, we heard red-headed woodpeckers calling and soon spotted two of them on a snag. One of them — or perhaps another — flew in close to us a couple of times. I whiffed on the first opportunity but had better luck on the second. The first view I got was the partial one in the photo topping this post. After a minute or so, the bird popped out in full, giving us good looks.
On the second stop, we got out of the car and immediately heard blue grosbeaks singing. A couple of them flew in close, giving us some nice looks.
On the other side of the road, a prairie warbler flew into the trees. It was zipping about, and I managed to get a couple of fair shots when it settled in a spot not shrouded by leaves.
We moved on to a trail head off Sooy Place Road, near Johnson Place Road, at the southwest corner of the preserve. We heard a single pine warbler a few minutes later as we started a walk three-quarters of a mile up the trail. Our destination was a small bridge where we’d previously seen hooded warblers and prothonotary warblers.
The prothonotaries appear to be long gone, but we were treated to a singing hooded warbler that came in close a few times.
We were pleased to be able to find the hooded warbler at this point in the summer. They’ll likely start heading south soon.
We also observed an American redstart, Carolina chickadees and tufted titmice, among others. We were pleased with what we saw and the photo opportunities we got. We had plenty to rehash on the drive north. 🦅
Thank you for this very informative article. It’s great to hear that the Redheads and warblers are still there.