When I stepped out of the car at the Pole Farm parking lot, it took only a few moments for the sound to register. There it was, the unmistakeable dropping-Ping-Pong-ball song of the field sparrow. Field sparrows may actually hang around all year long in this part of the country, but they stop singing sometimeContinue reading “With Ping-Pong song, field sparrows reveal themselves”
Tag Archives: birds
A wild duck chase, and an unassisted walk
That grin on my face emerged with that gesture of triumph this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, where for the first time in many months I went birding on my own two feet, without a cane. Since troubles with my knees crossed into acute territory over the summer, I’ve been trying hard toContinue reading “A wild duck chase, and an unassisted walk”
In praise of the American tree sparrow
One of the pleasures of birding is when you suddenly realize that the bird you’re seeing isn’t what you thought it was but something surprising. American tree sparrows have that effect on me, and it happened again with my two most recent visits to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. The other day, I spotted aContinue reading “In praise of the American tree sparrow”
Looking out my back door on Leap Day
Because of work and other complications, I figured I wasn’t going to get in any birding — let alone bird photos — on this “Leap Day,” the quadrennial 29th of February. After a quick run to campus and the bank this morning, as I pulled back into my driveway, beyond the roof of our houseContinue reading “Looking out my back door on Leap Day”
Along the interstate, I find a lifer
Bright sunshine held sway all day today, and my friend Laura and I took advantage of it and headed out this morning for a couple hours of birding. Our first stop was at a scenic overlook along the Delaware River off Interstate 295 near Trenton. We’d stopped there once previously, only to find a big,Continue reading “Along the interstate, I find a lifer”
The father of eBird says keep your cats indoors
At today’s annual Alumni Day at Princeton, John Fitzpatrick received the university’s highest honor given to a graduate school alumnus or alumna, the James Madison Medal. Fitzpatrick, who received his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1978, led the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology from 1995 to 2021. Under his leadership, the lab developed eBird, the voluminousContinue reading “The father of eBird says keep your cats indoors”
A hermit thrush tests my ID skills
As my fifth year of regular birding is underway, my skill at identifying birds has vastly improved. But I still often encounter birds that puzzle me and defy easy identification. Case in point: this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, I headed left off the trail from the parking lot, down the alley ofContinue reading “A hermit thrush tests my ID skills”
Cold breeze, nice light and good birding
We woke up to clear skies and brilliant sunshine this morning, which turned out to be nice conditions for an outing at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. The highlight was getting to see a male Northern harrier twice swooping along the tree line up the central path, once from a distance and once close enoughContinue reading “Cold breeze, nice light and good birding”
Birds in the snow: an increasingly rare treat
We had two snowfalls this week, on Tuesday and overnight into this morning. Because the snow has been so scarce the past few winters, I made sure to get outside with my camera in hopes of getting some nice shots of birds in the elements. I didn’t get a great shot but I didn’t getContinue reading “Birds in the snow: an increasingly rare treat”
After the fire, the birds return
To keep out those pesky invasive vegetation species, the Mercer County Parks system does a controlled burn early each year at Mercer Meadows. Last week, conditions were right, and several of the meadows were put to the torch. I visited the Pole Farm yesterday and adjoining Reed Bryan Farm today to check out conditions. PortionsContinue reading “After the fire, the birds return”
The Jersey Birder 