photography – Page 4 – The Jersey Birder

A good day for sparrows, and an owl call

Dawn arrived with a temperature of 43 degrees , our first truly Fall-feeling morning. I pulled on a green plaid jacket, turned on the heater in the car and headed to the Pole Farm. At the parking lot, I heard the cry of a pileated woodpecker as I switched to my hiking shoes, figuring thatContinue reading “A good day for sparrows, and an owl call”

Great light brightens the birds

Eastern towhee sitting on a tree branch, turning its head to the left.

My last two outings to Mercer Meadows brought lighting challenges and opportunities. Each morning started with heavy fog, with the sun ultimately breaking through and burning off the gray stuff. Sometimes, the fog makes for interesting, moody shots. I went to the Reed-Bryan Farm side of the park today. The fog was heavy, and throughContinue reading “Great light brightens the birds”

A day of discovery and a lifer, sort of

A juvenile red-headed woodpecker flies toward a tree.

I made two visits to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm today, and it was full of surprises. On a longer than usual three-mile walk in the morning, I finally added a red-headed woodpecker to my e-Bird reports. It was a lifer. Or was it? I’ve been hoping to spot a red-headed woodpecker since I beganContinue reading “A day of discovery and a lifer, sort of”

Finding beauty in common birds

A female house finch perches on a tree branch.

With their plain-Jane garb of brownish gray and drab white, female house finches don’t draw the eye the way their male companions do with their deep red feathers. When the female finches show up at our feeders, I glance at them, make a mental note of their number and hope something brighter will fly inContinue reading “Finding beauty in common birds”

Magnificent Sunday with a bald eagle

A bald eagle soars under a blue sky with thin white clouds.

When several hours of rain finally lapsed Sunday afternoon, my wife suggested I head out with my camera. I had not expected to have an opportunity to do any birding, so I jumped at the chance — promising to be back soon to help get things in order for dinner guests. Because of all theContinue reading “Magnificent Sunday with a bald eagle”

Common yellowthroats are still with us

Male common yellowthroat straddles branches in the middle of a small tree, with green leaves in the background.

I am not shy in sharing my enthusiasm for common yellowthroats. Consider this another stanza in a long-running poem in tribute. As with many species, the yellowthroat’s territory-claiming, mate-seeking songs of spring subside over the summer. Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard scant few of their familiar “wickety-wickety-wickety” proclaimings from the parks and preservesContinue reading “Common yellowthroats are still with us”

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”

Birds kissed by morning light

A Northern cardinal, deep red with some black streaks about its head for missing feathers, snacks on a rolled up leaf whiile perched on a tree branch.

We’ve had a delightful run of sunny days of late. I’ve donned a jacket a few times on my morning walks because the post-dawn temperatures have dipped into the low 60s and even the 50s. This morning dawned gloriously, and I got out to the Pole Farm hoping to photograph some of the warblers thatContinue reading “Birds kissed by morning light”

It’s good to be back home and welcoming warblers

A male scarlet tanager perches on a tree branch. The bird has black wings and a scarlet body with a patch of yellow on its side.

With the sun fully out and the temperature a cool 51 degrees, I headed to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm this morning for my first home outing since returning from Maine. I had checked Birdcast to find that warblers are returning to Mercer County on their fall migration, and I hoped I’d chance upon aContinue reading “It’s good to be back home and welcoming warblers”

A little birding in Downeast Maine

A ruby-throated hummingbird hovers just to the right of a tall stock of cardinal flower, with bright red blossoms.

My wife and I headed to New England for a few days, with a stop in the Berkshires of Massachusetts on our way to Bar Harbor. On the 1,500-mile roundtrip, I didn’t have a lot of time for birding. But at Acadia National Park, we had some lovely close encounters with ruby-throated hummingbirds, and IContinue reading “A little birding in Downeast Maine”