Pole Farm – The Jersey Birder

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”

The Fall Big Day really was a big day

A yellow-rumped warbler perches in a tree amid leaves and branches at John A. Roebling park.

Saturday was the Fall Big Day for birding, organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and I did my part. Yellow-rumped warblers ruled in the stops I made in Mercer County, and in tribute I’ve posted a photo of one of them atop this post. I started the day at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm,Continue reading “The Fall Big Day really was a big day”

Sparrows, a harrier and an unexpected owl highlight the weekend

A Northern harrier, its wings spread wide, soars in the sky.

We’re nearing the peak of fall migration, yet I found few warblers this weekend. Instead, I was treated to a variety of sparrows and — best of all — had as close an encounter with a Northern harrier as one could hope to have. As I made my way up the central trail at theContinue reading “Sparrows, a harrier and an unexpected owl highlight the weekend”

Harriers and newly arriving sparrows usher in October

A female Northern harrier perches on a small tree with green leaves up top and leaves turned red at the bottom. The bird is turning her head to the left.

We flipped the calendar to October today, and the birding population in some ways is itself flipping. Take sparrows for example. The old standby house sparrows and song sparrows are still here while their migrant cousins begin to arrive. I spotted my first swamp sparrow of the season at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm onContinue reading “Harriers and newly arriving sparrows usher in October”

A one-bird day at Abbott Marshlands

An Eastern phoebe perches on a horizontal tree branch. The bird has an olive green back and a white breast with hints of yellow.

The Nor’easter finally churned away from New Jersey, and the rain fizzled out early this afternoon as I was on my way to John A. Roebling Park at Abbott Marshlands. I’d seen recent reports on e-Bird of Northern shovelers and hoped I’d find one. No such luck. After better than 48 hours of rain, theContinue reading “A one-bird day at Abbott Marshlands”

Starlings have surprising charms

Five starlings sit on bare branches at the top of a tree with a blue sky overhead.

Considered pests by many, European starlings won’t likely to top anyone’s favorite birds list beyond the Shakespeare fan who brought them to the United States in 1890. I like Shakespeare but I’m less enthused by starlings. I dismissively refer to them as “Euro trash,” but I usually hold a beat and then scold myself beingContinue reading “Starlings have surprising charms”

Adding birdsong audio to e-Bird just got easier

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

Our friends at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have done it again: given us birders a faster and easier way to participate in the citizen science of the e-Bird mobile app. The lab announced at the beginning of the month that sound clips of bird songs and calls can be uploaded directly to e-Bird fromContinue reading “Adding birdsong audio to e-Bird just got easier”

A little extra effort finds a palm warbler

A palmer warbler perches on the branch of a small tree, with green grasses in the background.

I arrived at the Pole Farm a few minutes before the 6:44 a.m. sunrise today, and other than blue jays and catbirds I saw few birds on the trail loop I walked. As I returned to the parking lot, I passed my car and walked past the lot to see if any birds might beContinue reading “A little extra effort finds a palm warbler”

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”

Seeing old friends before the migrants arrive

A female common yellowthroat perches on a tree branch with yellow flowers behind her. The petals match the bird's yellow breast.

Fall migrants are slowly beginning to arrive in my part of the world. Meantime, I’ve been savoring seeing the birds who’ve been gracing our fields and forests over the spring and summer before they, too, head south. This morning at the Pole Farm, I was pleased to observe a few common yellowthroats. All but oneContinue reading “Seeing old friends before the migrants arrive”