A surprise request came in to my mailbox several days ago. The real estate firm Redfin asked me to contribute some words of advice on how to attract birds to your yard. I’d been considering a post on that very topic, so here’s what I submitted: We’ve set up a triangle that attracts a colorfulContinue reading “Tips on making your yard a bird sanctuary”
Author Archives: Dan
Scarlet tanagers on the nest
As often as I walk the trails of the parks near home, I’ve spotted only a few bird nests. I was fortunate last week to come upon my friend Andy in the woods at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, who told me he knew where a pair of scarlet tanagers were nesting. We walked overContinue reading “Scarlet tanagers on the nest”
When catbirds attack, duck and run
We birders — most of us, anyway — are happy to share tips on where and how to spot the various birds that come calling in our little corners of the planet. Today’s tip from me is unusual. I’m offering advice on how to avoid a bird, not how to find one. Last week IContinue reading “When catbirds attack, duck and run”
In nature photography, how much post-processing is too much?
Saturday morning arrived cool and very, very overcast gray in my part of the mid-Atlantic region. Those conditions can occasionally make for great photos, but often they leave me with dull, muddy images. The photo above of a great blue heron stalking in Colonial Lake just off Business U.S. 1 in Lawrence Township is whatContinue reading “In nature photography, how much post-processing is too much?”
Tapping the animal network to bring out a bird
Spring migration has been a bit of a disappointment for me this year, as I haven’t seen as many warblers as I did last year. I’ve heard them, or more accurately the Merlin sound app has heard them clustered around me, but I’ve had relatively little luck spotting them. As of the start of thisContinue reading “Tapping the animal network to bring out a bird”
How big was my ‘Big Day’ in 2023?
My 2023 Spring “Big Day” was a lot of fun as I logged 51 species in e-Bird, doing my part to contribute to the crowd-sourced science that makes these annual counts so important in preserving our avian friends. Unlike last year when I traveled to Cape May County during the World Series of Birding, IContinue reading “How big was my ‘Big Day’ in 2023?”
Big days in May: chasing the rare prothonotary warbler
When I first started paying attention to the Spring migration a couple of years ago, I saw sporadic, excited reports of prothonotary warblers being spotted here in New Jersey. What a weird name for a bird, I thought, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to chase all over kingdom come to find one. AContinue reading “Big days in May: chasing the rare prothonotary warbler”
Can hearing aids make you a better birder?
I had just stepped out of the car at the Reed Bryan Farm parking lot at Mercer Meadows, anticipating the usual gaggle of European starlings that congregate in the large tree near the barn beside the lot. I hadn’t even opened the back-seat door to fetch my camera and binoculars when I heard the loudest,Continue reading “Can hearing aids make you a better birder?”
The warblers are coming. Time to look up!
Spring migration has begun, and the warblers have started arriving here in central New Jersey. Within the past few days, I’ve seen palm warblers, a yellow warbler and common yellowthroats, all welcome returnees to my neck of the woods. As these birds and more arrive, I need to remind myself as I wander through theContinue reading “The warblers are coming. Time to look up!”
Bueller? Bueller? Birds at the parking lot
As if to prove there’s no rhyme or reason to birding, consider the parking lot birds that appear just as you’re about to leave the birding location or, even rarer in my experience, those who show up just as you arrive. That latter scenario played out Thursday morning when I pulled into the Cold SoilContinue reading “Bueller? Bueller? Birds at the parking lot”
The Jersey Birder 