My 2023 Spring “Big Day” was a lot of fun as I logged 51 species in e-Bird, doing my part to contribute to the crowd-sourced science that makes these annual counts so important in preserving our avian friends. Unlike last year when I traveled to Cape May County during the World Series of Birding, IContinue reading “How big was my ‘Big Day’ in 2023?”
Tag Archives: birdwatching
Big days in May: chasing the rare prothonotary warbler
When I first started paying attention to the Spring migration a couple of years ago, I saw sporadic, excited reports of prothonotary warblers being spotted here in New Jersey. What a weird name for a bird, I thought, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to chase all over kingdom come to find one. AContinue reading “Big days in May: chasing the rare prothonotary warbler”
The warblers are coming. Time to look up!
Spring migration has begun, and the warblers have started arriving here in central New Jersey. Within the past few days, I’ve seen palm warblers, a yellow warbler and common yellowthroats, all welcome returnees to my neck of the woods. As these birds and more arrive, I need to remind myself as I wander through theContinue reading “The warblers are coming. Time to look up!”
Bueller? Bueller? Birds at the parking lot
As if to prove there’s no rhyme or reason to birding, consider the parking lot birds that appear just as you’re about to leave the birding location or, even rarer in my experience, those who show up just as you arrive. That latter scenario played out Thursday morning when I pulled into the Cold SoilContinue reading “Bueller? Bueller? Birds at the parking lot”
Caspian terns pay us a visit at Trenton marsh
After the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, one of my favorite places to bird is the Trenton marsh. After seeing an alert that Caspian terns were spotted there on Saturday, I drove down as the sun came out that afternoon and was treated to a delightful display by these unusual visitors. The terns are fast flyers,Continue reading “Caspian terns pay us a visit at Trenton marsh”
An old friend returns, and a new one arrives
I stepped out of the car and turned toward the Delaware and Raritan Canal just a few yards behind me, and I heard something I wasn’t expecting. It took a few seconds before I could train my binoculars on the source of the spondaic call: a small green bird on the stalk of a short,Continue reading “An old friend returns, and a new one arrives”
Finding birds on new trails
With a nod to Robert Frost, I’ve always been one to take the road less traveled, seeking new paths even in familiar places. I’ll approach an intersection and wonder, “Where does this road go?” More often than not, I’ll turn and drive on to see what new wonders await me. So it is with theContinue reading “Finding birds on new trails”
Advanced birding fever: Chasing a rare sparrow
Today afforded a unique opportunity to merge two of my favorite pursuits, baseball and birding. In the process, I got a glimpse of a bird common in the central plains of this continent but a rare visitor here in New Jersey, the Harris’s sparrow. I’d been following reports of a Harris’s sparrow hanging out withContinue reading “Advanced birding fever: Chasing a rare sparrow”
Bird song is returning, an early signal of spring at the Pole Farm
At the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, a few early signs that spring will get here eventually are starting to show. Over my last couple of visits, I’ve started hearing after a long layoff the raspy cries of red-winged blackbirds, and the Eastern bluebirds are calling to one another. This morning, I noticed that a fewContinue reading “Bird song is returning, an early signal of spring at the Pole Farm”
Sometimes, the birds come to us
You can tramp for an hour through the woods and fail to find a bird to photograph, and sometimes all you have to do is look up from the kitchen table to find something magnificent paying you a call. The latter happened yesterday as my wife and I sat down to lunch. I was oneContinue reading “Sometimes, the birds come to us”
The Jersey Birder 