wildlife photography – Page 2

No camera for birds? No problem – switch to wildflowers!

One ripe blackberry and several unripe red berries appear on the edge of the bush's branches, with green leaves in background.

A couple of times a year, I forget to stick the SD card back into my camera and discover the problem only when I reach the Pole Farm parking lot. It happened again today, and I was even more irritated to discover my backup card wasn’t in the car. Rather than head back home, IContinue reading “No camera for birds? No problem – switch to wildflowers!”

A goldfinch saves the day on the photo front

Male American goldfinch sitting on tree branch with dark green leaves behind him.

One of the things I love about birding is its unpredictability. Some days birds abound, other days they hunker down. Then there’s a day like yesterday, when plenty of birds were out but only a few came into view for photos. When I got back home from the Pole Farm, I took stock of whatContinue reading “A goldfinch saves the day on the photo front”

Patience paid off: My first common yellowthroat photos of 2025

A common yellowthroat, jaws wide open, belts out a song from a small branch.

I’ve been hearing common yellowthroats for the past couple of weeks, and I’d managed to catch glimpses of them a couple of times. I knew that if I were patient, I’d eventually get a clear shot. That happened this morning, and in an unexpected way. Common yellowthroats typically lurk in the grasses and often popContinue reading “Patience paid off: My first common yellowthroat photos of 2025”

All hail the Northern cardinal

Northern cardinal, beak open, singing from a tree branch.

What is it about Northern cardinals that makes us homo sapiens swoon? Whenever I post a batch of bird photos to Facebook, if there’s a cardinal in the lot, it usually draws the most likes and comments, The cardinal is the state bird of my native Ohio, and I’ve always known them since I wasContinue reading “All hail the Northern cardinal”

Wood ducks brighten the day

Male wood ducks on tree limbs extending over a pond, with reeds in the background.

At least one Virginia rail is hanging out in the big pond at the center of the Charles Rogers Wildlife Refuge in Princeton, and I stopped there before work Monday. I was hoping as on previous visits merely to hear a rail, a bird that hides among the reeds and rarely ventures into view whenContinue reading “Wood ducks brighten the day”

A return to the Pole Farm, and a surprise at Colonial Lake

Trail leading into the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, with trees on the left and a dirt path at center.

Since knee surgery last month, I’ve been itching to get back out with my camera at my favorite birding spots. Having weaned myself off a walker and a cane thanks to terrific medical care and physical therapy, I chose this morning to venture out. My first stop was the Pole Farm (above), where I tookContinue reading “A return to the Pole Farm, and a surprise at Colonial Lake”

A hairy woodpecker pays a rare call

A hairy woodpecker clings to a suet feeder, poised to strike the cake.

Sometimes it takes a while for the bird recognition neurons in my brain to kick in. That happened this morning as I was looking out the windows toward our backyard feeders. I’d watched a female downy woodpecker fly onto the suet feeder and munch a while before flitting off. A few minutes later, another woodpeckerContinue reading “A hairy woodpecker pays a rare call”

A cold morning for sparrows

Savannah sparrow perched on a tree branch and puffed up to keep warm on a cold, sunny morning.

We’re at the front end of a cold snap that will bring temperatures down into the single digits Fahrenheit for a few days. We had two to three inches of snow fall yesterday, and I pulled on my Muck boots to head to the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm. It was slim pickings for birds. IContinue reading “A cold morning for sparrows”

A sure thing: great blue herons in Princeton

A great blue heron sails over the water on its way to land.

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”

Surprise! It’s a hermit thrush

One of the joys of photographing birds is the unexpected bird that shows up on your computer screen, as happened to me this morning. I was on one of my usual two-mile loops at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, walking the trail counterclockwise, when I spotted a couple of bluebirds in a tree with smallContinue reading “Surprise! It’s a hermit thrush”