photography – The Jersey Birder

A blue grosbeak, full frame

Blue grosbeak perched on a stalk surrounded with green -- leaves to the right, grasses behind. The bird is blue with a silver beak. It has two rust-colored bars on its black wing.

I have no data to prove it, but when it comes to getting photos of the most colorful birds on my outings, I usually hear them before I see them. That’s true for cardinals, blue jays, Northern yellow warblers, indigo buntings, and blue grosbeaks. At the Pole Farm this morning, I heard several indigo buntingsContinue reading “A blue grosbeak, full frame”

Spotting the prothonotary warbler and its nest

A prothonotary warbler perches on a branch in a tree.

Each of the last few years, prothonotary warblers have shown up during Spring migration at the Dyson Tract along the Delaware and Raritan Canal. It took me a few visits, but today I struck gold, so to speak. As I arrived at the parking lot, I turned on the Merlin app and hoped it wouldContinue reading “Spotting the prothonotary warbler and its nest”

What a day to forget my binoculars!

Cape May warbler perched among green tree leaves. The bird is mostly yellow with brown streaking and an orange spot ringing its eye, mostly below.

When I got to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning, I realized that I’d left my binoculars at home. Oops. It wasn’t worth the drive to fetch them, so I set out on the trails with only my camera. In the end, it was a minor inconvenience on what turned out to be aContinue reading “What a day to forget my binoculars!”

A three-lifer day in the Pine Barrens

My buddy Jim and I drove through the fog down to the Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Reserve in the Pine Barrens this morning. Although we did spot a few prairie warblers, they weren’t the day’s highlight. Jim has been to the Huber reserve many times, but this was my first visit to the sprawling stretchContinue reading “A three-lifer day in the Pine Barrens”

Things are looking up in birding

Flying left to right against a bright blue sky with a few small clouds, a red-winged blackbird chases a red-tailed hawk.

With migration underway, we birders spend a lot of time looking up to spot warblers high up in trees. On two outings this week, I’ve seen few warblers but have spent a lot of time craning my neck. I looked up at the Pole Farm on Wednesday to see a red-winged blackbird chasing a red-tailedContinue reading “Things are looking up in birding”

The cool, clear call of the Baltimore oriole

It’s hard to pick a favorite song or call of the birds I encounter in my part of the world, but unquestionably the sweet, clear song of the Baltimore oriole is among my favorites. I heard one for the first time this spring at the Pole Farm on Tuesday and heard another this morning atContinue reading “The cool, clear call of the Baltimore oriole”

Old friends return during Spring migration

A male common yellowthroat sings out from a small branch on a small tree with green leaves budding out.

I haven’t had much of a chance to go birding the last two weeks, but I made up for lost time this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. As I stepped out of my car, I heard a symphony of song sparrows and common yellowthroats, with red-winged blackbirds singing raspy counterpoint. The yellowthroats returnedContinue reading “Old friends return during Spring migration”

Spring is here. Bring on the migrant birds

An American robin perches on a slender tree branch before a deep blue sky. Other slender branches are nearby.

Today is the first day of Spring, and the sun shone as I made a pre-work visit to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. American robins were abundant, as is typical this time of year, and I’m topping this post with one of the first I saw as I walked up the central trail. Farther upContinue reading “Spring is here. Bring on the migrant birds”

A birding adventure in the Pine Barrens

Red-headed woodpecker sitting on a nearly horizontal tree limb.

We weren’t out to find the mythical Jersey Devil. My friend Jim and I set out for Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in the Pinelands to find pine warblers and red-headed woodpeckers. Jim, who has been visiting Colliers Mills since he was a kid, guaranteed that we’d find the red-headed woodpeckers and figured we hadContinue reading “A birding adventure in the Pine Barrens”

A walk in the sunshine

An American robin perches on a small tree. The bird turns its head back to the left. Its red breast and yellow bill are well-illuminated by the sun.

The weather reversed course Thursday, the temperature dropping and the snow falling although not sticking. This morning, I went out to my car, which had iced over so much that I couldn’t pull open the rear driver-side door where I usually place my camera with my binoculars. The windshield was covered in crystals, which theContinue reading “A walk in the sunshine”