Saturday, May 15, 2010

Scarlet Tanager at Liberty State Park

Oh, happy day! Mike's goal for this May (his birthday month) has been to see and photograph a Scarlet Tanager. We got the two quick glimpses of the one in our neighborhood park, but today we had a long time to enjoy this one posing for us high in the treetops at Liberty Park in Jersey City, NJ.

Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager

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Anonymous Betty said...

I have scarlet tanagers in the yard. I also have a similar bird that has a slate gray head and mottled red/black on back; bright red on the belly and yellow short beak. Can anyone identify him for me?

May 21, 2010 at 3:54 PM  

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Birding Liberty State Park

 

We decided to try Liberty State Park for migrating Warblers. We are glad we did. The Scarlet Tanager was the highlight, but we also got a pretty good photo of the American Redstart and saw a Wilson's Warbler for the first time.


American Redstart
American Redstart

Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler

Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher

Wilson's Warbler
Wilson's Warbler

Northern Parula
Northern Parula

Starling
Starling eating worms


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Yellow Warbler at the celery farm

Last year, we went to the Celery Farm in Allendale, NJ and saw a yellow warbler in a small tree among cattails. When we reached that tree today, we paused for a few seconds and a yellow warbler flew into the same tree.

Later another birder pointed out the yellow warbler's nest in a nearby tree.
Yellow Warbler in nest

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House Wrens at the Wren House

House Wren
House Wren
House Wren

Finally! Obviously we do everything we can to attract our little winged friends, and often we are disappointed when our efforts fail at attracting them. We seem to have had some success with the house wrens who are busily building a nest in the wren house we put out. Chris thinks they chose it because they have a lovely view out their front door of a blooming clematis. We can hear them from first thing in the morning and all through the day. Today we went out to two locations for birding, and we left the webcam on the wren house to keep an eye on things for us. Here are some of the best pictures of our resident house wrens.

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Anonymous LesaFin said...

We have house wrens who have built nest in all three of our ATV helmets!! They are hanging up on the garage wall one above the other.... there is one nest in each helmet (3 in all!)but I have only witnessed one mother sitting on her nest (the top floor!) Don't want to get too close now that she's there to see if there are any neighbors in the other nests!

July 27, 2010 at 8:24 AM  

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Common NightHawk


We saw a nighthawk flying over Lake Nelson at dusk. Here's the best photo.

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Blackburnian Warbler and Friends at Garret Mountain

Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
American Redstart
American Redstart
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Incredibly Cute Baby Wood Ducks

Incredibly Cute Baby Wood Ducks

Baby Wood Ducks

We were up in Piermont, NY, the other night to see our friends, Nancy and Dan, and take in the Fred Eaglesmith Band show. We figured we might get some birding in as well because that is what we do. Can you imagine the thrill we felt when one of the first things we saw out the window of our B&B were these adorable baby ducks. We love wood ducks but had never seen any baby ones. Of course, Chris kept frantically counting them as they all tried to keep up with mom who was trying to swim against the current.

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Birds from Tallman Mountain State Park, Piermont NY


Baltimore Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Carolina Wren
Carolina Wren

Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow

Female 
Female Red Winged Blackbird



When we stayed in Piermont, NY our B&B was close to the entrance of Tallman Mountain State Park. We took a brief walk and encountered a few birds. There was quite a bit of singing with the wren, the oriole, red-winged blackbirds and song sparrow competing for our attention.

The yellow warbler got our attention by its color not song.
Yellow Warbler
Yellow Warbler

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The song sparrow is beautiful

June 15, 2023 at 10:45 AM  

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Red-bellied woodpecker: Photo by Pete

 


This photo was taken in my backyard today, May 13th, in West Windsor, NJ. I have seen this bird eating from our feeder and finally captured a photo. I had to research what it was and found your site. I wanted to share it.

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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Spring Migrants

Baltimore Oriole
Baltimore Oriole 

Common Yellowthroat
Common Yellowthroat 

American Redstart
American Redstart

In May, many migrating birds fly through New Jersey. While we like Cape May, Garret Mountain and other birding hot spots, our neighborhood park is a short walk away and an okay spot to see a few birds high in the treetops. We've got a glimpse of a scarlet tanager two mornings in the past week, but no photos (yet). We also saw a Tennessee warbler. The Baltimore Orioles are active and we've also seen an American Redstart and a common yellowthroat.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Baby Robin Help Needed!

A chic was found in our yard this morning that fell from its nest. It's mother is nowhere to be found. I don't know how old/young it is but it doesn't seem to have tail feathers yet. We bought food and have fed it but cannot keep it due to two large Maine Coons we own. What do we do with it?
Please e-mail replies to lijay1@verizon.net. Thank you.

May 22, 2010 at 3:49 PM  

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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Baby Goose (Canada Gosling)

Goose BabyCanada Goose and Goslings

Aren't baby geese cute?

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Anonymous Henry said...

nice pics! baby geese are so cute. we spotted them trying to cross a road, mom and dad with 5 kids. fortunately cars stopped for them, and they turned around back towards the water because they were going towards the highway, whew!

May 10, 2010 at 11:24 PM  

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House Sparrow feeding baby birds

Sparrow
Sparrow

Here the female sparrow is feeding its chicks who are inside a nesting box.  The male sparrow was nearby with some food in its mouth, but when we were watching didn't try to feed the baby birds.  These photos were taken at the Cassidy Hill Winery in Coventry, Connecticut.

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Anonymous Nicole said...

Excellent pictures! Those mouths, ha! (And right on time for Mother's Day, too :)

May 10, 2010 at 12:17 PM  

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Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird has arrived just in time to eat some of Lake Nelson's flying insects.

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