Whether it’s a single bird or one of many, I can count on seeing and photographing great blue herons at the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton. At first this morning, I didn’t see the heron in its usual spot just off the pedestrian bridges over the Delaware and Raritan canal. I walked on the eastContinue reading “A sure thing: great blue herons in Princeton”
Tag Archives: Princeton
A trio of eagles greets me
With the mercury at a frigid 11 degrees Fahrenheit, I scraped the ice off the windshield of our Subaru this morning and drove to the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton. To my delight, a few minutes after I stepped out of my car I spotted three bald eagles circling overhead. Two of them were matureContinue reading “A trio of eagles greets me”
The outdoor avian portrait studio
Like life, birds move pretty fast. But every so often they park in place, giving us photographers an opportunity to compose and take their portraits. I had two cracks at it today, this first day of December. As I was making my way back to my car this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm,Continue reading “The outdoor avian portrait studio”
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”
Catching common mergansers in flight
It’s mid-January, and as in much of the country, we are more often than not waking to leaden gray skies in my part of New Jersey. But Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, and I headed out with my camera anticipating excellent shooting conditions. I stopped first at Audubon’s Plainsboro Preserve, hoping there’d be a variety ofContinue reading “Catching common mergansers in flight”
Camera surprise: It’s a bald eagle!
On a walk when I found few birds other than Canada Geese, I took just six photos this morning, one of which I trashed in the camera on site. When I got home, I almost didn’t bother to check the card because the pickings at the Millstone River Impoundment in Princeton were so slim. IContinue reading “Camera surprise: It’s a bald eagle!”
Some days birding, starlings are the best you get
A small percentage of my birding excursions give me a goose egg: no birds spotted whatsoever. Such outings are rare, and I can almost predict when I’ll get that result. Time of day is the most reliable predictor. On off-work days either my wife will shoo me out of the house or I’ll head outContinue reading “Some days birding, starlings are the best you get”
When catbirds attack, duck and run
We birders — most of us, anyway — are happy to share tips on where and how to spot the various birds that come calling in our little corners of the planet. Today’s tip from me is unusual. I’m offering advice on how to avoid a bird, not how to find one. Last week IContinue reading “When catbirds attack, duck and run”
How big was my ‘Big Day’ in 2023?
My 2023 Spring “Big Day” was a lot of fun as I logged 51 species in e-Bird, doing my part to contribute to the crowd-sourced science that makes these annual counts so important in preserving our avian friends. Unlike last year when I traveled to Cape May County during the World Series of Birding, IContinue reading “How big was my ‘Big Day’ in 2023?”
The Jersey Birder 