Since knee surgery last month, I’ve been itching to get back out with my camera at my favorite birding spots. Having weaned myself off a walker and a cane thanks to terrific medical care and physical therapy, I chose this morning to venture out. My first stop was the Pole Farm (above), where I tookContinue reading “A return to the Pole Farm, and a surprise at Colonial Lake”
Category Archives: Birds in the wild
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 no-owl Noel. But there were songs.
Merry Christmas to all! I hope your holiday is a happy one. After wrapping a few gifts yesterday afternoon, I went to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm and joined a few other photographers on an owl stakeout. I spent 90 minutes awaiting the arrival of short-eared owls. They didn’t show. But amusingly, as I wasContinue reading “A no-owl Noel. But there were songs.”
Short-eared owls are flying again at the Pole Farm
While we have yet to experience the packed-parking-lot frenzy of last winter, short-eared owls are back at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm and starting to show themselves before the sun goes down. The “shorties” have been in the park for several weeks. Birders have reported seeing them before dawn and after sunset. We’ve been waitingContinue reading “Short-eared owls are flying again at the Pole Farm”
A trio of eagles greets me
With the mercury at a frigid 11 degrees Fahrenheit, I scraped the ice off the windshield of our Subaru this morning and drove to the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton. To my delight, a few minutes after I stepped out of my car I spotted three bald eagles circling overhead. Two of them were matureContinue reading “A trio of eagles greets me”
A winter solstice treat: birds in the snow
With each passing year, it seems we’re getting less and less snow than we did previously. We got a surprising two inches of the white stuff overnight, and I gleefully headed out to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, anticipating some bird-in-snow shots. While it seemed most of the birds decided to sleep in at theContinue reading “A winter solstice treat: birds in the snow”
The Jersey Birder 