The Associated Press has a terrific story out today on the resurgence of the bald eagle, and I’m quoted in it. Having headed several AP bureaus and served as a university spokesperson, I’m accustomed to speaking with reporters. But this is the first time I can recall being quoted as an individual, in this caseContinue reading “The eagles are back, and not just at the Super Bowl”
Author Archives: Dan
A hairy woodpecker pays a rare call
Sometimes it takes a while for the bird recognition neurons in my brain to kick in. That happened this morning as I was looking out the windows toward our backyard feeders. I’d watched a female downy woodpecker fly onto the suet feeder and munch a while before flitting off. A few minutes later, another woodpeckerContinue reading “A hairy woodpecker pays a rare call”
Wings clipped, I can still do some birding
Last week I had knee replacement surgery, and it will be a few if not several weeks before I can get back out into the fields. Even though I’m largely homebound, I can still partake of the pleasure of watching the birds through the windows that frame our backyard and the golf course beyond it.Continue reading “Wings clipped, I can still do some birding”
‘Wingspan’ is a great game for birders and birders-to-be
Even if you aren’t a birder, you very likely will like Wingspan, a popular board game released in 2019 that challenges players to develop bird populations in forest, grassland and wetland habitats. If you are a birder and haven’t yet played Wingspan, you probably will soon, either at the invitation of a friend who hasContinue reading “‘Wingspan’ is a great game for birders and birders-to-be”
A cold morning for sparrows
We’re at the front end of a cold snap that will bring temperatures down into the single digits Fahrenheit for a few days. We had two to three inches of snow fall yesterday, and I pulled on my Muck boots to head to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. It was slim pickings for birds. IContinue reading “A cold morning for sparrows”
A sure thing: great blue herons in Princeton
Whether it’s a single bird or one of many, I can count on seeing and photographing great blue herons at the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton. At first this morning, I didn’t see the heron in its usual spot just off the pedestrian bridges over the Delaware and Raritan canal. I walked on the eastContinue reading “A sure thing: great blue herons in Princeton”
Surprise! It’s a hermit thrush
One of the joys of photographing birds is the unexpected bird that shows up on your computer screen, as happened to me this morning. I was on one of my usual two-mile loops at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, walking the trail counterclockwise, when I spotted a couple of bluebirds in a tree with smallContinue reading “Surprise! It’s a hermit thrush”
The charms of Trenton marsh
A morning appointment kept me from my usual swing through the Pole Farm, but I was able to get out to John A. Roebling Park and Trenton marsh this afternoon. I was rewarded with the usual assortment of ducks and geese. I was disappointed by not spotting any Northern shovelers, but I did see aContinue reading “The charms of Trenton marsh”
A new year for birding begins
On this first day of 2025, I got a fast start on birding. I began the day under a beautiful cloud-dappled sky at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, logging 13 species in an out-and-back walk on the central trail. Three American crows flew into a tree as I got out of my car, making themContinue reading “A new year for birding begins”
A snow goose helps us see in the new year
“What’s that white bird out there?” my wife asked at the breakfast table this morning. “Out there, in the geese.” As there were about 200 Canada geese on the neighboring golf course, just beyond our property line, it took me a while to pick out the white bird. I grabbed my camera, dashed outside andContinue reading “A snow goose helps us see in the new year”
The Jersey Birder 