wildlife photography – The Jersey Birder

Birds make me smile; do they smile back?

A willow flycatcher sings with its beak wide open as it perches on a small tree branch.

Birds make me happy, and many of them make me smile. Northern cardinals and indigo buntings always lift my spirits, for example, as their thrilling colors brighten my world. Other birds instantly bring a smile to my face, whether it’s the chickadee calling “dee-dee-dee” near one of our feeders or the goofy brown thrasher mumbo-jumboingContinue reading “Birds make me smile; do they smile back?”

Least bitterns cause a stir at Rosedale Park in Pennington

A male least bittern looks to its right as it sits on a green stalk.

Every once in a while, Mercer County hosts a celebrity bird or two. This week, the least bitterns that have shown up at Rosedale Park in Pennington are doing their star turn, luring birders in bunches. When birding buddy Jim and I showed up this morning, we spotted a group of birders with long cameraContinue reading “Least bitterns cause a stir at Rosedale Park in Pennington”

Has the summer slowdown begun at the Pole Farm?

An orchard oriole calls from tall green plants. Its head iand wings are black, its breast a deep shade of orange, and its beak is mostly black on top and silver on the bottom.

Spring migration is over, and most birds have settled into where they’ll spend the summer. I crossed paths with a birding friend yesterday, and we both noted that opportunities to see and photograph birds at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm seem as if they are starting to slow. On Wednesday, for example, I shot photosContinue reading “Has the summer slowdown begun at the Pole Farm?”

A five-lifer day down the Jersey shore

A saltmarsh sparrow sits in a tuft of grass beside one of the tidal pools just off Great Bay Boulevard.

With the Atlantic City skyline in the distance, my friend Jim and I explored the Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area at Tuckerton today. I added five species to my life list. Even better, I got photos of each. I’m topping this post with a photo of one of those, a saltmarsh sparrow. We heardContinue reading “A five-lifer day down the Jersey shore”

Ovenbirds: loud and lovely warblers

An ovenbird leans forward on a horizontal tree branch. Green leaves are behind and above the bird, which has streaks of brown on its white breast and a white eye ring.

The loud, insistent call of the ovenbird is a daily experience in the woods at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, but it’s rare that I get to see one. Today, I spotted two. I took an unusual route. I headed up the central trail from the Cold Soil Road parking lot, turned right to theContinue reading “Ovenbirds: loud and lovely warblers”

Warbler weekend has been a blast

Spring migration probably reached its peak this weekend, and I spent a good deal of time in the field to experience it. The highlight was Saturday, when my friend Jim and I went to the Ted Stiles Preserve on Baldpate Mountain, hard by the Delaware River at Titusville, New Jersey. Although I’d hiked Baldpate aContinue reading “Warbler weekend has been a blast”

No fooling: my first bird of April was a bald eagle

A mature bald eagle sits on a tree branch. Part of the bird's white head and yellow beak are obscured by a thin tree branch.

With the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm closed for a few days for the annual “controlled burn” torching of the fields, I headed to the Dyson Tract along the Delaware and Raritan Canal this morning. Propitiously, as I eased my car into a parking spot, I watched a mature bald eagle fly into a nearby treeContinue reading “No fooling: my first bird of April was a bald eagle”

A 40-species outing at Abbott Marshlands

The thermometer read 27 degrees this morning, but the sun was shining and it brought out the birds at John A. Roebling Park on the Trenton-Hamilton border. Before our outing at this thriving section of Abbott Marshlands was over, with considerable help from sharp-eyed birding buddy Jim, I’d observed 40 species of birds. Not toContinue reading “A 40-species outing at Abbott Marshlands”

A birding adventure in the Pine Barrens

Red-headed woodpecker sitting on a nearly horizontal tree limb.

We weren’t out to find the mythical Jersey Devil. My friend Jim and I set out for Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in the Pinelands to find pine warblers and red-headed woodpeckers. Jim, who has been visiting Colliers Mills since he was a kid, guaranteed that we’d find the red-headed woodpeckers and figured we hadContinue reading “A birding adventure in the Pine Barrens”

Thawing out and catching up on birding

Male wood duck follows a female along the edge of the water in a marsh.

The Nor’easter blizzard that blew into the East Coast last weekend put a crimp in my birding for a few days, but I was able to get back out this weekend as the calendar transitioned to March from February. My friend Jim and I headed to Abbott Marshlands on Saturday hoping to find some waterfowl.Continue reading “Thawing out and catching up on birding”