I follow a number of blogs that are short on text and long on images. So for a change to my usual chatty m.o., here’s a photo of an Eastern Meadowlark that I spotted at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm on Saturday morning. I am pleased with it, and I hope you like it, too.
Tag Archives: New Jersey
An outing with the awesome Princeton Birding Society
Today promised to be a perfect day for birding: the sun was shining, the temperature was headed from the low 50s into the 70s, and birdcast.info estimated that 3.4 million birds had flown over Mercer County overnight. The best factor of all: I would join the Princeton Birding Society on a warbler walk at theContinue reading “An outing with the awesome Princeton Birding Society”
Blue jays are ruling the roost
2024 is turning out to be a banner year for blue jays, at least as I’m seeing and hearing them on my outings in Mercer County, New Jersey. Each time I look out the back windows at home, it seems two or three blue jays are flying up to our feeders or streaking by theContinue reading “Blue jays are ruling the roost”
A fine morning at Hamilton Veterans Park
For the past several days, I’d been seeing e-Bird reports of snowy egrets and a little blue heron hanging around Veterans Park in Hamilton. When I woke up this morning, I figured it was high time I checked them out. Sure enough, the little blue heron was staying close to a larger snowy egret, asContinue reading “A fine morning at Hamilton Veterans Park”
Demon grackles swarm my feeders
Common grackles are the motorcycle gangs of the bird world. They swoop into our yard, attacking the suet feeder and often by sunset gobbling up the two cakes I had put in fresh after sunrise. It’s not unusual to see scores of them at home — a group strutting around the grass while others squabbleContinue reading “Demon grackles swarm my feeders”
The Pole Farm kestrels have fledged
The American kestrels that hatched in the maintenance barn at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm a few weeks ago fledged last week while I was away in Texas. Today, I was delighted to get a good look at some of them. I had completed my walk and was pulling out of the parking lot whenContinue reading “The Pole Farm kestrels have fledged”
American kestrels are settling in nicely at the Pole Farm
The American kestrel is a threatened species, particularly in the Northeastern United States. But we have encouraging news from the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. Breeding pairs are making the park their home, and we have more kestrels today than we did in previous years. When they’re not hovering over the meadows, looking for prey, theContinue reading “American kestrels are settling in nicely at the Pole Farm”
Coming face to face with a Swainson’s thrush
My pledge to finish my goal of visiting the remaining New Jersey counties where I have not gone birding had stagnated, as I had made no progress whatsoever this year. When I discovered early Sunday that I had reason to go to Passaic County to watch a baseball game, I couldn’t pass up the chanceContinue reading “Coming face to face with a Swainson’s thrush”
A great day for hawks
It was another sunny morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, and my friend Andy and I set off for adventure about 7:20 a.m. I’ve been in a hawk drought of late, having seen just one red-tailed hawk a few days ago but otherwise having gone weeks without seeing any, let alone another variety. ThatContinue reading “A great day for hawks”
Waking up to the robins
Well before dawn, the robins in our neighborhood start singing. I don’t think they’re trying to wake me up or spur me to get out of bed, but in whatever message they’re conveying, they are persistent. This morning, I listened to them for 5 or 10 minutes, and when I heard a cardinal start singingContinue reading “Waking up to the robins”
The Jersey Birder 