The Eastern towhee was one of the first non-backyard birds that caught my attention as I started birding regularly at the Mercer Meadows Pole farm three years ago. I first heard the bright “twee!” call one April morning three years ago, and it would be a few visits more before I spotted one about 10Continue reading “Getting the right shot of the tricky Eastern towhee”
Tag Archives: Pole Farm
Digging the Dickcissels in our midst
For the past several weeks, Dickcissels have been frequenting the grassland fields of the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, and it has been a thing of wonder. Initially, I wondered if I’d ever see the bird. My Merlin sound app kept hearing the bird, but I could never spot it. I’d see reports of Dickcissel sightingsContinue reading “Digging the Dickcissels in our midst”
My little friend, the song sparrow without a tail
A week ago last Sunday, I was walking on a paved portion of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail through the main fields up from the Pole Farm parking lot when I stopped to snap a photo of a song sparrow. But something was odd about it. When I brought the photo up on screen at home, IContinue reading “My little friend, the song sparrow without a tail”
At last, the yellow warbler emerges
For the last three weeks or so, every time I set foot on a particular trail at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, I’ve heard a yellow warbler. And I do mean heard, not seen. This bird, and I suspect it is just the one, has continually frustrated me because I have not been able toContinue reading “At last, the yellow warbler emerges”
The thrill of a new bird sighting
Because of work commitments, my time in the woods and fields has been limited of late, so I’m extra appreciative when new birds come into view. I spotted my first blue grosbeak on May 17 at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, and the bird seems to be hanging around as fellow birders spotted it thisContinue reading “The thrill of a new bird sighting”
My ‘Big Month’ of birding was even better than I’d hoped
April was the coolest month. Knowing that I had a trip to Texas scheduled and that a few warblers might eventually come my way at home, I set out on a “big month” quest to spot as many species as possible. I set 60 as my target, a reasonable expectation but not a certainty. I’mContinue reading “My ‘Big Month’ of birding was even better than I’d hoped”
Everything’s bigger in Texas, and so is my life list
While I didn’t add a huge number of birds to my “Big Month” count, my trip to Texas did net me four lifers, two that I had seen before but never recorded and two that truly were new sightings for me. I racked up a modest 21 species in College Station during the six daysContinue reading “Everything’s bigger in Texas, and so is my life list”
Five days in, my ‘Big Month’ takes shape
Last night I finished reading the “Big Year” book on which the movie of the same title was based. I’m comfortable in reporting that I am not quite as obsessively crazed as the three competitors on whom the story is based who each sighted more than 700 species of birds in 1998. It was onContinue reading “Five days in, my ‘Big Month’ takes shape”
One great bird: the Northern harrier
Four birds with “Northern” in their name are regular visitors in my part of New Jersey. The Northern cardinal is ubiquitous at home, and the Northern mockingbird and Northern flicker are regulars in the neighborhood. But the most thrilling of all is the Northern harrier. To find a harrier, all I need to do isContinue reading “One great bird: the Northern harrier”
My little friends, the sparrows
Until I started taking a more serious interest in birding, to me a sparrow meant the ubiquitous house sparrow. A passer domesticus, rarely alone, was always at the feeders when I was a kid growing up in Ohio. Years later, I marveled at how the house sparrows thrived amid the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan, flittingContinue reading “My little friends, the sparrows”
The Jersey Birder 