The first bird I identified on my own

As a kid growing up in northeast Ohio, I knew the basics of the birds that frequented our neighborhood. Mom always pointed them out, marveling at the cardinals and their song, tisk-tisking the raucous blue jays (“those bullies!”), and pointing with delight at the cute house wrens popping in and out of the birdhouse thatContinue reading “The first bird I identified on my own”

All hail the New Jersey state bird, the American goldfinch

The American goldfinch — the New Jersey state bird, dazzling with yellow in mating-season plumage — is not easily overlooked. I’ve lived 15 years in this state in two incarnations: six years in Union County in the northern tier, and the last nine in Mercer County in the central section. In all my north JerseyContinue reading “All hail the New Jersey state bird, the American goldfinch”