New Jersey – The Jersey Birder

Getting a hawk as it takes off

A red-tailed hawk perches on a thick tree branch and looks to its right.

With another gorgeous fall morning aborning, I made two birding stops today. After looping Spring Lake at Abbott Marshlands, I headed to Veterans Park in Hamilton to see if I might find a few late-arriving birds to add to my October log. Several killdeer were plucking at the edges of the lake, and I tookContinue reading “Getting a hawk as it takes off”

A birding walk through fall foliage at the Pole Farm

A red sumac tree stands just off the trail, with a wall of trees with red, yellow, orange and green leaves lines the background under a bright blue sky.

Autumn days can be glorious, and today is a stunner. Tied up early in the morning, I got out to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm about 11 a.m. and made a two-mile loop in just over an hour. My main purpose in going was birding, of course, and at that relatively late arrival time IContinue reading “A birding walk through fall foliage at the Pole Farm”

Checking out a new place to bird: Heritage Preserve

Male Northern flicker, with a black malar stripe on its face, sits on a branch high up in a tree. Its lower body is partly obscured by green leaves.

I made on of my usual trips to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning, and in the afternoon I decided to try a place I had not yet visited. About five miles from my home and just off Interstate 295 near the Pennington-Ewing border is the Heritage Preserve. It’s a 66-acre tract of formerContinue reading “Checking out a new place to bird: Heritage Preserve”

A green heron grabs a bite to eat

A green heron snags a small frog from the water and clutches it in its beak. The bird's gray crest has raised up.

On this beautiful late-summer day, I wasn’t able to get out with my camera in the morning. But with the sun shining brightly and a light breeze continuing after lunch, I hopped in the car for some birding. Mid-afternoon isn’t a time when many birds are out, and that was true on my first stop.Continue reading “A green heron grabs a bite to eat”

Surprise! It’s a dickcissel

A dickcissel peeks out from the grasses in which it is perched. The bird has a yellow throat and eye stripe, a white abdoment and brown wings.

One of the things I love about birding is its unpredictability. You get skunked one day, strike gold(finches) the next. Today was one of the latter, when my pal Jim and I made three stops in and around Princeton. The first and primary stop was the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, and we had near instantContinue reading “Surprise! It’s a dickcissel”

A rugged, muddy morning of birding in Princeton

A red bellied woodpecker poises itself to strike a bare tree.

Adjacent to the Princeton University campus, the Charles H. Rogers Wildlife Refuge is a wooded area with a marsh suitable for a leisurely birding walk on a late summer Sunday. I stopped there this morning, circling the marsh on the blue trail and hoping to spot a few warblers. Striking out on the warblers, IContinue reading “A rugged, muddy morning of birding in Princeton”

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)”

A fine birding spot ruined, or nearly so

Canada geese ply the marshy area in front of one of the newly built warehouses on the site.

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”

Great blues rule, but green herons are also cool

Green heron standing on a downed log in a swamp.

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”

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”