birds – The Jersey Birder

Standard time sets up sunset shots

A female Northern harrier flies right to left across the sky. The bird's brown breast has a slight red cast from the setting sun.

We’re back on standard time, and that means I’ll tweak the times for my birding outings. Even when I headed out to the Pole Farm this morning, I was contemplating a return after 4 p.m., hoping to get shots of Northern harriers hunting. To my delight, that actually happened. As I walked up the centralContinue reading “Standard time sets up sunset shots”

Photo feast or famine while birding

A great blue heron turns to its right. Vigrant autumn colors of orange, yellow and green are reflected on the lake behind the bird.

Most of the time, I aim to post “day of” on my birding outings. Having spent 32 years in daily journalism, I put a high value on keeping things current. This post, however, leads with a photo that I shot the day before. On Thursday, I posted the hawk take-off sequence I shot at VeteransContinue reading “Photo feast or famine while birding”

Getting a hawk as it takes off

A red-tailed hawk perches on a thick tree branch and looks to its right.

With another gorgeous fall morning aborning, I made two birding stops today. After looping Spring Lake at Abbott Marshlands, I headed to Veterans Park in Hamilton to see if I might find a few late-arriving birds to add to my October log. Several killdeer were plucking at the edges of the lake, and I tookContinue reading “Getting a hawk as it takes off”

The Northern harriers are back where they belong: the Pole Farm

A female Northern harrier flies toward a line of trees decked out in fall colors of red and orange.

Early this year, it seemed that fewer Northern harriers than usual were hunting in the fields of the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. I’m happy to report that as fall is in full swing, the harriers are back and reliably on view most days. This morning, for example, one of the harriers was parked on aContinue reading “The Northern harriers are back where they belong: the Pole Farm”

A birding walk through fall foliage at the Pole Farm

A red sumac tree stands just off the trail, with a wall of trees with red, yellow, orange and green leaves lines the background under a bright blue sky.

Autumn days can be glorious, and today is a stunner. Tied up early in the morning, I got out to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm about 11 a.m. and made a two-mile loop in just over an hour. My main purpose in going was birding, of course, and at that relatively late arrival time IContinue reading “A birding walk through fall foliage at the Pole Farm”

Surprise sightings aided by e-Bird’s photo recognition software

A song sparrow perches on a horizontal tree branch with brown grasses in the background.

It’s no surprise to see a song sparrow in my neck of the woods. They appear regularly at our feeders at home and in the parks and woods across this part of the country. This morning, I caught the one topping this post near the parking lot at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. While mostContinue reading “Surprise sightings aided by e-Bird’s photo recognition software”

Checking out a new place to bird: Heritage Preserve

Male Northern flicker, with a black malar stripe on its face, sits on a branch high up in a tree. Its lower body is partly obscured by green leaves.

I made on of my usual trips to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning, and in the afternoon I decided to try a place I had not yet visited. About five miles from my home and just off Interstate 295 near the Pennington-Ewing border is the Heritage Preserve. It’s a 66-acre tract of formerContinue reading “Checking out a new place to bird: Heritage Preserve”

The Fall Big Day really was a big day

A yellow-rumped warbler perches in a tree amid leaves and branches at John A. Roebling park.

Saturday was the Fall Big Day for birding, organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and I did my part. Yellow-rumped warblers ruled in the stops I made in Mercer County, and in tribute I’ve posted a photo of one of them atop this post. I started the day at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm,Continue reading “The Fall Big Day really was a big day”

Sparrows, a harrier and an unexpected owl highlight the weekend

A Northern harrier, its wings spread wide, soars in the sky.

We’re nearing the peak of fall migration, yet I found few warblers this weekend. Instead, I was treated to a variety of sparrows and — best of all — had as close an encounter with a Northern harrier as one could hope to have. As I made my way up the central trail at theContinue reading “Sparrows, a harrier and an unexpected owl highlight the weekend”

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 StatesContinue reading “Blue jays are magnificent”