bobolinks – The Jersey Birder

At last, a red-eyed vireo appears (also, butterflies)

A red-eyed vireo is bathed in sunlight while perched on a tree branch.

I have noted that I have a devil of a time spotting red-eyed vireos, a bird that I hear on most outings to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm and many other spots in my part of New Jersey but rarely see. So it was a delight this morning when at the Pole Farm, my friendContinue reading “At last, a red-eyed vireo appears (also, butterflies)”

Bobolinks abound at Alpha Grasslands Preserve

A bobolink turns its head while perched atop a green shrub. The bird's head is mostly tan with a yellow beak, and the breast is yellow below a streaky brown neck.

I’m plodding along on my quest to go birding in all 21 of New Jersey’s counties, and today I registered No. 14. My pal Jim and I drove north along the Delaware River to visit the Alpha Grasslands Preserve in Warren County. Google Maps took us to a trailhead on Oberly Road, where a signContinue reading “Bobolinks abound at Alpha Grasslands Preserve”

Chasing bobolinks and wrapping up a record month

Bobolink perched atop a gray wood fence, with green grasses behind it.

I’ve never had a better May for birding than this one. By spotting three double-crested cormorants in a tree at the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton today, I logged my 100th species for Mercer County. The numbers are all well and good, especially since I had an eight-day stretch in which I didn’t have anContinue reading “Chasing bobolinks and wrapping up a record month”

A bobolink party at the Pole Farm

A bobolink clutches red and green grass stalks that bent under its weight.

The classic Dr. Seuss book “Go, Dog. Go!” ends [spoiler alert] with a pack of dogs climbing a ladder to the top of a big tree for a big dog party. My birding buddy Lee and I experienced the avian equivalent today at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. We pulled into the parking lot oneContinue reading “A bobolink party at the Pole Farm”