One of my frequent and favorite birding spots until last year was Mercer Corporate Park, a site with a USDA office and a few other small office buildings clustered around two small lakes that attracted a wide variety of birds. For many months, construction crews have put up two large warehouses and dramatically changed theContinue reading “A fine birding spot ruined, or nearly so”
Tag Archives: nature photography
Great blues rule, but green herons are also cool
Just about any piece of property that has a puddle of water or more in my part of the world, it seems, is habitat for great blue herons. I’ve seen them fly over our house after they’ve taken off from the golf course retention pond that’s about a 3-wood away from our property line. Today,Continue reading “Great blues rule, but green herons are also cool”
Third time’s the charm: spotting a little blue heron
The daily email I get from e-Bird alerting me to birds I’ve yet to record this month has been goading me since last week with reports of a juvenile little blue heron hanging out at Veterans Park in Hamilton. Twice last week I drove down there and didn’t spot the bird. This afternoon, I gaveContinue reading “Third time’s the charm: spotting a little blue heron”
The pleasures of daily birding
Unless the weather is horrible or I have a family or other priority commitment, I get out birding almost every day. Most of my outings run in the 90-minute range, but shorter sessions can also bring joy. Today was an unusual three-stop day, starting at the Charles Rogers Preserve in Princeton for about 45 minutesContinue reading “The pleasures of daily birding”
At last, I get a great crested flycatcher in my viewfinder
It’s been bugging me these first seven months of the year that I have yet to get a photo of a great crested flycatcher. I finally got one this morning at John A. Roebling Park in Abbott Marshlands, Hamilton. I was coming up the path from the parking lot when I spotted a bird aheadContinue reading “At last, I get a great crested flycatcher in my viewfinder”
Another routine day of Pole Farm birding
Even an ordinary day of birding at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm can become extraordinary. Today, for example. No unusual species appeared, which was not a surprise during this mid-summer lull when many birds go quiet if not away. I was lucky to catch an indigo bunting singing from atop a low tree in oneContinue reading “Another routine day of Pole Farm birding”
More warblers in the New Jersey Pinelands
My buddy Jim and I headed south once more today to the Pine Barrens, hoping to find a summer tanager in Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. In my Subaru Outback, we crawled along some sandy trails and negotiated many large puddles to get deep into the woods. Alas, no summer tanagers brightened our day, evenContinue reading “More warblers in the New Jersey Pinelands”
A smokey sky trims my birding
WIth smoke from Canadian wildfires blowing into the mid-Atlantic region, I woke up this morning with some irritation in my eyes. With the air quality rating poor, I decided to skip a planned outing with the birds. I did go out Thursday morning and encountered hazy conditions under filtered sunlight at the Mercer Meadows PoleContinue reading “A smokey sky trims my birding”
Another day in the New Jersey pines
If you’re wondering if warblers are still hanging around in New Jersey in mid-July, the answer is yes. It helps to travel to the Pine Barrens to find them, as my pal Jim and I did this morning. We headed to the MIchael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve, stopping in two areas. The first was aContinue reading “Another day in the New Jersey pines”
New neighbors: the bluebirds out back
One male Eastern bluebird stopped by one of our backyard bird boxes on Wednesday, taking a look inside the entry hole that gnawing squirrels enlarged over the past couple of years. On Thursday evening, I spotted a male perched on the chain to our hammock near the bird house. Then — mirabile dictu — aContinue reading “New neighbors: the bluebirds out back”