Mercer Meadows – Page 4 – The Jersey Birder

Hanging at the Pole Farm ‘hot corner’

Baltimore oriole perched atop a tree trunk, with clear blue sky in background,

Every so often, I like to take a different tack when visiting my favorite birding spots. This morning at the Pole Farm, I headed to the Blackwell Road parking lot and crossed into Mercer Meadows. My hope was to get a few photos of indigo buntings, which often sing from the trees along the walkingContinue reading “Hanging at the Pole Farm ‘hot corner’”

A couple of yellowthroats. But are they a couple?

Female common yellowthroat perched on a thorny vertical branch.

One of the joys of birding in my area is hearing and seeing common yellowthroats. My sightings of the males vastly outnumbered those of the females, and days when I get photos of both sexes are rare. I’ve given the female yellowthroat top billing on this post. I spotted her amid the tall grasses nearContinue reading “A couple of yellowthroats. But are they a couple?”

I like small birds and I cannot lie

A willow flycatcher sits on a tree branch stretching diagonally across the frame.

Get a good look at the willow flycatcher topping this post. What a sweet bird! He or she was flitting about the grasses on the Reed Bryan section of Mercer Meadows this morning. The bird paused between sorties for bugs to afford me a chance to catch its portrait. I am smitten by these weeContinue reading “I like small birds and I cannot lie”

Another yellow warbler brightens a gray day

Yellow warbler singing from skinny vertical branch at the top of a tree, with a few leaves below it.

For the past few years, yellow warblers have made a home in a group of trees about 100 yards up from the Cold Soil Road parking lot at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. From their arrival during Spring migration until their departure in Fall, I can count on hearing one of them in this sameContinue reading “Another yellow warbler brightens a gray day”

It pays to shoot, even when in doubt

American goldfinch stretches its wings as it flies off from a muddy trail.

Morning broke foggy in my part of the world. A couple of days of heavy rain left us soggy and humid conditions. I dodged puddles as I headed up the central trail at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning and spotted an American goldfinch ahead of me. It was poking in the wet dirtContinue reading “It pays to shoot, even when in doubt”

The glorious sights and sounds of Spring migration

Baltimore oriole on tree branch, with cluster of leaves at end of branch.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. So goes a well-known Christmas carol, but the tune plays in my head during Spring bird migration. It plays, that is, when it’s not drowned out by the abundant birdsong that fills the woods and fields on my birding outings. This morning, I went to the Reed-BryanContinue reading “The glorious sights and sounds of Spring migration”

Patience paid off: My first common yellowthroat photos of 2025

A common yellowthroat, jaws wide open, belts out a song from a small branch.

I’ve been hearing common yellowthroats for the past couple of weeks, and I’d managed to catch glimpses of them a couple of times. I knew that if I were patient, I’d eventually get a clear shot. That happened this morning, and in an unexpected way. Common yellowthroats typically lurk in the grasses and often popContinue reading “Patience paid off: My first common yellowthroat photos of 2025”

A cuckoo surprise to start the day

Black-billed cuckoo, neck outstretched, looks to the sky from tree branches.

Unpredictably is one of the true pleasures of birding. You simply have no clue when something unusual will appear. So it was Saturday when I pulled into the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm parking lot around 7 o’clock in the morning. I had just put my car in park when Lee pulled in beside me. I’dContinue reading “A cuckoo surprise to start the day”

Bird counts ramp up as the weather warms

An American robin sings from a spindly tree branch, with leaves budding out on nearby stalks.

There’s no denying that Spring brings out the birds. It was sunny and light-jacket warm this morning when I visited the Pole Farm, and I was hoping to get a few shots of the common yellowthroats that have returned to the fields. I heard many but was only able to spot one, a male whoContinue reading “Bird counts ramp up as the weather warms”

All hail the Northern cardinal

Northern cardinal, beak open, singing from a tree branch.

What is it about Northern cardinals that makes us homo sapiens swoon? Whenever I post a batch of bird photos to Facebook, if there’s a cardinal in the lot, it usually draws the most likes and comments, The cardinal is the state bird of my native Ohio, and I’ve always known them since I wasContinue reading “All hail the Northern cardinal”