The Jersey Birder

Blue jays are magnificent

I guess it’s human nature that we value our common birds less than we do the uncommon or rare birds that come by. I was thinking while walking the Pole Farm trails yesterday that one such bird is the blue jay, common if not ubiquitous in the neighborhoods and the wilds of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

With its natty combination of blue, black and white feathers, it is a beautiful bird. For birders in other parts of the world visiting the Eastern or Midwestern U.S., spotting a blue jay would be a priority and a thrill.

I was reminded of that this morning as I went to the Reed Bryan Farm side of Mercer Meadows, the part of the park that features the last pole standing from the old AT&T Pole Farm.

I had come down the trail with Gretchen, one of the best birders in the area, who pointed out the abundant Savannah, swamp and Lincoln’s sparrows on both sides of us. Before she turned back uphill to start a tour she was about to lead, we stopped just past the creek that passes under a bridge at a long line of trees.

Before crossing the bridge, we’d spotted scores of sparrows and seen a Merlin and a Cooper’s hawk tangle in the air. Once over the bridge, we spotted Downy and red-bellied woodpeckers and, high up on a bare tree, one of the several blue jays patrolling the area.

I couldn’t tell as I was shooting, but the jay had an acorn in its bill. Well lit by the sun, the bird struck a handsome pose.

A blue jay stands on the top branch of a tree while grasping an acorn it its beak. — Common but uncommonly beautiful, the blue jay holds an acorn atop a tree.

I have put a horizontal crop of the scene at the top of the post to go along with the vertical crop from another frame here.

Whichever way you frame one, the blue jay is a striking specimen. I’m glad to see them virtually every day without having to cross an ocean to do so. 🦅

Harriers and newly arriving sparrows usher in October

A female Northern harrier perches on a small tree with green leaves up top and leaves turned red at the bottom. The bird is turning her head to the left.

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.

Savannah sparrow turns its head while standing atop a stalk of prairie grass. — A Savannah sparrow posing nicely in one of the meadows.

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.

A Lincoln's sparrow perches ona tree branch in a field of brown grasses. — Lincoln’s sparrow perching. Key to the ID: that yellow wash over the streaks at its neck and upper breast.

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.

A female Northern harrier perches atop a small tree with green leaves up high and leaves that have turned red below. — Northern harrier looking my way.

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.

Blue-headed vireo clutches a branch in a maple tree, surrounded by green leaves with blue sky in the background. — Blue-headed vireo, with one of its telltale “spectacles” eye rings on display.

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! 🦅

A delightfully busy day at the Pole Farm

A Philadelphia vireo perches on a branch in a maple tree, surrounded by green leaves.

Birding friend Nancy and I arrived at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm nearly simultaneously this morning, and we had a feast-famine-feast kind of day.

As we worked our way up from the Cold Soil Road parking lot, we spotted a few palm warblers chasing each other about.

A palm warbler perches amid small tree limbs, its body and peak partially obscured by leaves. — One of the palm warblers, partially obscured.

That was a great start, but our walk up the central trail surprisingly turned up nothing more. As we made our way into the woods, we turned right to the AT&T Building One site and looked up hopefully into the wall of trees well lit by the sun.

Things started happening quickly. Yellow birds were darting here and there, and I fixed my binoculars on one of them, not immediately able to make the ID. The birds kept flying, and Nancy and I laughed as we tried — mostly in vain — to get a focus fix on them.

Both of us kept shooting, hoping that we’d get at least a few sharp shots. We decided to move along, and then encountered our friend Jim coming up the trail. Jim looked at one of my photos and decided on black-throated green warbler for the ID.

A black-throated green warbler perches in an evergreen tree. — One of the black-throated green warblers.

Jim also surmised that another bird I shot was a Philadelphia vireo, which I’d confirm in bringing the images up on screen at home.

The Philadelphia vireo, also appearing in the photo topping the post, poses in profile.

On the way back to our cars, we didn’t spot the Savannah sparrows that Jim had seen on the way up the trail. But we did see a song sparrow set amid some of the changing leaves just off the trail.

A brown and white song sparrow perches on a slender branch amid spotted green leaves turning orange and yellow. — The song sparrow in a classic autumnal setting.

Considering that the day before I shot just one bird individually, I was thrilled to be able to shoot a couple of warblers and the Philadelphia vireo while walking the trails with two good birding friends.

That’s the best kind of birding day. 🦅

A one-bird day at Abbott Marshlands

An Eastern phoebe perches on a horizontal tree branch. The bird has an olive green back and a white breast with hints of yellow.

The Nor’easter finally churned away from New Jersey, and the rain fizzled out early this afternoon as I was on my way to John A. Roebling Park at Abbott Marshlands. I’d seen recent reports on e-Bird of Northern shovelers and hoped I’d find one.

No such luck. After better than 48 hours of rain, the marsh was curiously low on water. I counted four dozen Canada geese and a single mallard, and I heard only a few other birds on a 50-minute walk. I wondered if I’d have a rare photo shutout.

On the way back to my car, I watched a belted kingfisher race past me with another bird behind it veering off into a tree ahead of me. Under heavy cloud cover, I had a bit of difficulty focusing on the bird, which was jumping from branch to branch every few seconds.

Eventually, I caught up to it, an Eastern phoebe, and grabbed a few decent shots. My favorite tops this post.

I took a shot of some of the geese in the marsh with my iPhone, but the phoebe was the only bird I photographed individually. I’m satisfied with that.

I plan to head to the Pole Farm tomorrow morning, ever hopeful for lots of bird to capture on camera. 🦅

Maya Lin installation draws attention to threats to birds, other wildlife

Visitors look at and up toward two large panels showing images of wildlife and a blue sky. A stairway to the second floor is at left.

The Nor’easter storm churning along the Atlantic Coast is keeping this birder indoors this weekend. I’ve turned my attention to a new exhibit at Princeton University that elegantly draws attention to threats to nature and how to respond to them.

The exhibition “What Is Missing? What If?” opened this week in the newly opened environmental sciences building on the Princeton campus. On Thursday evening, I was at Briger Hall for a film screening at an auditorium that’s next to the exhibition.

“What Is Missing? What If” is the work of Maya Lina, who as a Yale University undergraduate became instantly famous when her design was chosen for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Lin’s latest work at Princeton is a two-story multimedia presentation displayed on windows and glass doors. Projected are images of giraffes, whales, tigers, elephants and other animals threatened with extinction and making comebacks thanks to conservation efforts.

Video footage shows bald eagles flying over a lake with other birds on the shore.

When I first glanced at the exhibit, I saw a common loon displayed. Bald eagles, their population once decimated by DDT and other factors and now rebounding, soared across the screen. Wild turkeys strutted and pecked in snowy woods.

In viewing the images, I felt a cautious optimism about the future of our natural world. Occasionally, I’ve been cheered by seeing bald eagles fly over or near the Princeton campus, which features two other Maya Linn installations.

“What Is Missing? What If?” is open to the public weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended availability to 7 p.m. on Thursdays. There is no charge to view. For a deeper dive into the exhibition, please see the university’s excellent feature story about it.

Starlings have surprising charms

Five starlings sit on bare branches at the top of a tree with a blue sky overhead.

Considered pests by many, European starlings won’t likely to top anyone’s favorite birds list beyond the Shakespeare fan who brought them to the United States in 1890.

I like Shakespeare but I’m less enthused by starlings. I dismissively refer to them as “Euro trash,” but I usually hold a beat and then scold myself being unfairly harsh on them.

Three starlings perched on branches of a tree with a blue sky above. — Three starlings perch in a tree.

Today, I happened upon nearly two dozen of them perched high in a tree at the Dyson Tract along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. On first spotting them, I was puzzled. The heads of the birds appeared tan or yellow from my perspective looking upward.

Through my binoculars I got a better view, and the birds’ speckled breasts left no doubt that they were starlings.

Pretty birds? No, but they must look attractive to one another.

I had started my birding at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm at 8:45, later than usual. Few birds were out in the steady breeze and gusts that were blowing, and I took no photos other than a landscape shot with my iPhone.

A little blue heron stands on a downed log in a swamp. The bird, a juvenile, is white with greenish yellow legs. — Little blue heron

I stopped by the Dyson Tract an hour later and had better luck. I spotted a little blue heron that has been staying in the swamp for the past few weeks. A great blue heron was standing in the lake on the other side of the path perpendicular to the canal towpath.

As I walked up the path, I saw a bird land atop a bare tree a good way away. I couldn’t make the bird out through binoculars but took a few “here’s hoping” photos on the chance I might be able to make an ID back home on the computer screen.

Zooming in on the photos, I spotted the chunky beak of what turned out to be a female rose-breasted grosbeak. I’d seen several males during spring migration, but this was the first female I can recall spotting this year.

That sighting reminded me of how rich the Dyson Tract is in bird density. In an out-and-back walk through the site that’s less than one mile, a great variety of birds reveal themselves. It’s one of my favorite spots in Mercer County — even with all the starlings! 🦅

A female rose-breasted grosbeak sits on a bare tree branch. The bird is mostly brown, with brown streaking on a white breast and a white streak across its head over its eye. — The rose-breasted grosbeak, shot from a distance.

Adding birdsong audio to e-Bird just got easier

Eastern towhee sitting on a tree branch, turning its head to the left.

Our friends at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have done it again: given us birders a faster and easier way to participate in the citizen science of the e-Bird mobile app.

The lab announced at the beginning of the month that sound clips of bird songs and calls can be uploaded directly to e-Bird from the Merlin app or other mobile recording apps.

I gave it a try a few days ago while walking through the woods at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. Two Eastern towhees were calling to one another, “twee” to “twee.” At least I think it was two towhees, as the calls were coming from both sides of the trail.

I had turned Merlin on to record once I heard the calls, and I let the recording run for 10 seconds. I saved the file and moved on. But after turning onto another trail, I remembered that mobile uploads were possible.

I’d already logged the towhees in my e-Bird report. With a few clicks I was able to upload the audio file to that report. Voila! It was super easy, and I’m grateful for that.

I’d previously only uploaded a few audio files. I’d email the clips from Merlin to myself, download the file and then post it to an e-Bird report from my computer at home.

Filing from the field was much more fun. I expect this capability will induce more birders to upload audio files, further enriching the Cornell lab’s fantastic database. 🦅

A little extra effort finds a palm warbler

A palmer warbler perches on the branch of a small tree, with green grasses in the background.

I arrived at the Pole Farm a few minutes before the 6:44 a.m. sunrise today, and other than blue jays and catbirds I saw few birds on the trail loop I walked. As I returned to the parking lot, I passed my car and walked past the lot to see if any birds might be in the grasses just beyond it.

It was a lucky move. In a small tree poking out of the grasses, I spotted a small bird perched on a branch and nipping at its buds. My first thought was that it was a young Carolina wren, but I had my doubts. The bird’s lower breast showed some yellow.

When I got home and pulled up the images, I made a correct ID: palm warbler, the first of the season reported at the Pole Farm.

A palm warbler nips at the buds of a small tree in front of a background green from grasses. — The palm warbler looks young, to my eyes. Regardless of age, I welcome it.

I was glad to see this returning migrant. In previous seasons, I often spotted palm warblers in small trees in the meadows. But some of those small trees have disappeared, and the other day I was wondering if that would cut down my palm warbler sightings.

I’ve been visiting Mercer Meadows regularly since 2019, long enough that I’ve begun noticing changes in the landscape. For example, two significant trees that often attracted birds have disappeared since the first of the year.

A tall, bare, spike-like tree not far from the Pole Farm parking lot often had Northern flickers perched atop it. The tree came down in recent weeks. It must have toppled either in a storm or from old age. I found it lying amid bushes the other day, its trunk snapped just above the ground.

Early in the year, on the Reed-Bryan Farm side of Mercer Meadows, a large “devil’s fork” tree that was a favorite perch for American kestrels and Northern harriers vanished. It was off the trails and not in a spot to which I could or should walk to see what remains of it.

The foliage will continue to change, and I expect the patterns of bird activities will shift as well. Nonetheless, the Pole Farm remains a terrific habitat for birders and us birders who appreciate their continued presence. 🦅

A green heron grabs a bite to eat

A green heron snags a small frog from the water and clutches it in its beak. The bird's gray crest has raised up.

On this beautiful late-summer day, I wasn’t able to get out with my camera in the morning. But with the sun shining brightly and a light breeze continuing after lunch, I hopped in the car for some birding.

Mid-afternoon isn’t a time when many birds are out, and that was true on my first stop. At the Plainsboro Preserve, I saw two bluebirds and heard a single Northern flicker, nothing more on the trails.

Returning toward home, I stopped at the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton. I spotted a green heron perched atop a short stump poking out of the water. I quick-walked over to the footbridge near the spot. To get the best light on the bird, I walked beyond it and turned back to shoot, taking a few frames and deciding to wait.

The heron turned in a couple of directions, intently peering into the water for something to eat.

Suddenly, it lurched forward. I started shooting.

On scene, I didn’t realize what I had.

Once I got home, I was excited to see the action captured in several frames.

Both images in this post are cropped. The one on top shows the heron, its crest rasised, grabbing a critter out of the water.

This second image reveals what that critter was, at least for a few seconds longer: a small frog.

Green heron grasps in its beak a small frog with its belly up. The water below and beyond both creatures is dotted with green clumps of vegetation. — The heron gets its meal.

The frog’s demise came quickly, and I suppose the heron’s appetite was sated for a while.

It was a privilege to watch that small slice of life unfold.

And yes, I feel sorry for the frog. 🦅

Surprise! It’s a dickcissel

A dickcissel peeks out from the grasses in which it is perched. The bird has a yellow throat and eye stripe, a white abdoment and brown wings.

One of the things I love about birding is its unpredictability. You get skunked one day, strike gold(finches) the next. Today was one of the latter, when my pal Jim and I made three stops in and around Princeton.

The first and primary stop was the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, and we had near instant success. As we walked up from the parking lot, I spotted a bird of lemon yellow in a small tree about 20 feet off the trail. What was it?

Jim wasn’t sure, but then he gasped in surprise: dickcissel!

A few weeks ago, we had driven several miles and stopped along a country road to follow a report of one, getting distant views. But here it was, right before us, an infrequent visitor in our part of the world. We had to thread the needle metaphorically to focus on it through small tree branches and grasses.

A dickcissel opens its beak while perched on a small tree branch. — Of the many frames I shot, this was one of two showing the bird with beak agape. If it made a sound, I didn’t notice.

The bird parked in one place, flew left and landed in another, then flew back to the right. Over five or 10 minutes, Jim and I managed to get several shots. I wasn’t certain I’d gotten more than one or two decent frames, but once I got home I was pleased to find several images, including the one topping this post.

The fun was just beginning. Another birder told us he’d seen a Northern harrier near the big tree that’s a landmark in one of the main fields. Not long after, Jim spotted the harrier flying, too far away for me to get a shot worth sharing here.

Later a merlin flew nearby and we spotted what I’m reasonably certain was a sharp-shinned hawk perched in a tree. A killdeer flew overhead.

We finished our Pole Farm walk and drove to the Updike Farm in Princeton, hoping to spot Savannah sparrows. We had no luck there, but Jim ID’d a phoebe that landed in front of us, too briefly to get a photo.

Our final stop was the Dyson Tract along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Soon after arriving, we spotted the little blue heron that’s been hanging out in the swamp. We also spotted a pair of double-crested cormorants and a green heron.

The highlight, though, was a pair of red-shouldered hawks that were crying out every minute or so. We walked up the path perpendicular to the canal, where I’d previously spotted a red-shouldered hawk.

We could hear the two birds and watched them flying about the trees. Finally, we got one within sight and tried to get into position so the sunlight would show the bird to best advantage. I was pleased to find later that I got the bird with its beak open in a couple of frames. Here’s one of them.

A red-shouldered hawk, viewed from behind, turns its head to the right an opens its beak to call out while perched on a bare tree branch. — One of the red-shouldered hawks cries out. I never got the other one with which it was trading calls.

As we made our way back to the car, Jim spotted a solitary sandpiper walking on a log in the swamp.

A solitary sandpiper lowers its head to snap at something in the swamp water. — Solitary sandpiper extracting some sort of snack from the swamp.

One more suprise was in store. A wood duck in eclipse plumage landed not far from the sandpiper, and Jim and I strained to get shots of it as it swam out of view.

Just before we got back to the parking lot, I looked into the swamp and spotted five wood ducks swimming. One of them may have been the one we previously spotted, but who knows or cares?

The wood ducks were a fine coda to a great day of birding. 🦅