We flipped the calendar to October today, and the birding population in some ways is itself flipping. Take sparrows for example. The old standby house sparrows and song sparrows are still here while their migrant cousins begin to arrive.
I spotted my first swamp sparrow of the season at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm on Wednesday to close out September. Today I got my first good seasonal shot of one of the Savannah sparrows that have been trickling in the past few weeks.
As I wrapped up this morning’s walk, I decided to take a look in the fields behind the parking lot. I soon saw a couple of swamp sparrows and took several shots. What I didn’t realize was that one of the sparrows I was shooting turned out to be a Lincoln’s sparrow, which I didn’t figure out until looking at the bird on the big screen on my desk at home.
Lincoln’s sparrows visit my part of New Jersey every now and then, but my encounters with them are infrequent. I was happy to get a few photos.
At the Pole Farm yesterday, my friends Jim, Nancy and I watched a Northern harrier fly across the fields. This morning on my solo return, I spotted a harrier on a post in the middle of the field off the central path. She was preening herself and set up nicely for a portrait, once I found a clear lane through the grasses separating us.
I’m thrilled to see the harriers return. I consider them the signature bird for the Pole Farm, as they are reliable residents about half the year.
I’ve put one of the photos of today’s harrier atop this post and on top the homepage of my site. I’m intending to swap out the top homepage picture every month as the seasons change.
I also want to mention that Wednesday was another good day at the Pole Farm. Not only did I get that first swamp sparrow of the season but I also spotted a blue-headed vireo for only the second time in my birding years.
The vireo was flitting about the wall of trees at the AT&T Building One site. My friend Nancy was with me, and we again had a devil of a time focusing. I just got this single frame of the vireo. It’s not as sharp as I’d like it to be, but the photo does seal the ID.
I continue to track the daily reports on Birdcast.org and anticipate plenty of exciting days ahead this month for birds and birders. The white-throated sparrows could arrive at any hour! 🦅