Common Merganser fishing on Lake Nelson

Duck, Duck, Goose

We never tire of hooded mergansers.

Hooded Mergansers blowing in the wind

Today's windy weather brought some more hooded mergansers.

Two Hoodies

While we are sad about losing the polar ice caps, we are happy that hooded mergansers are staying all winter.

Ring-necked Duck

The warm weather has brought a few different birds to Lake Nelson. The Ring-necked Duck appeared this morning. It tried to hang out with the hooded mergansers but they wanted nothing to do with it.

Junco getting a drink

 

This has been a weird winter. The juncos may be heading north and some catbirds have already been reported. Chris thought she heard an oriole yesterday.

New Jersey Ducks

Northern Pintail


Northern Shoveler


Hooded Mergansers


We finally got out birding this weekend. The top two are some ducks from the Meadowlands. The hooded mergansers are from Lake Nelson. We've had two males and a female for the past day, possibly the same group that was here in the beginning of the year.

Common Merganser Visiting Lake Nelson

 

The worst weather brings the best ducks.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

On cold winter days, many birds come to our feeders. Unfortunately, this hawk is aware of the congregation and sits in a nearby tree waiting for an opportunity to make a meal out of one. It's hard to sit by and do nothing, but we have to let nature work things out. If only the hawk would go after the squirrels instead - we are having our usual winter battle with them. Chris finally decided if you cant beat them, join them and bought a corn block for the squirrels. Now they're eating that and still getting on the bird feeders!

Winter on Lake Nelson

Cormorant on the Ice


Red-bellied Woodpecker at the Birdbath


It's rare to find the red-bellied woodpecker at the birdbath. However, our heated birdbath is the only water that isn't frozen. The cormorant is still hanging around, but we wonder what he's eating.

Another Day of Hooded Mergansers

 
They remind us of Mini Coopers amongst a bunch of 18 wheelers.

 

 

Our favorite ducks, the hooded mergansers, have been staying for two days now. They have been interacting a bit with the mallards and Canada geese.

Starting the New Year with Hooded Mergansers on Lake Nelson

We are really appreciative of the unseasonably warm temperatures we are having. It gave us a nice opportunity to sit outside and wait for the Hooded Mergansers to come close. They still have not climbed up on our island, but Mike is still hopeful. One cormorant seems to claim it everyday, though, so the Mergansers may never have a chance. Today we have two males and one female, so we hope they stay around and wait for another female to join the group.

Northern Cardinal

 

We do intend on going out birding soon, but until then, we'll post photos from our backyard.

White-breased nuthatch

 

Back in Jersey: Winter Birds

 

Northern Mockingbird

 

Red Bellied Woodpecker


Well we've been back from Africa for a week now and are slowly getting back on schedule. We haven't been out birding in NJ yet, but are enjoying our backyard birds. The mockingbirds are in our neighborhood all year but only come to our house in the winters. The red bellied woodpecker is year-round resident.

Tufted Titmouse getting a drink

White-breasted Nuthatch with a sunflower seed

Small suet to go, please

It's a beautiful afternoon, although still too chilly for our taste. We were just back from a short walk and saw this red-bellied woodpecker grabbing a meal to go. Usually we get pictures of them staying still, so we thought we'd post an action shot for a change.

Chicken - Photo by Norm, Meriden, CT

This is Chickie, the chicken that adopted Chris's sister, Marilyn.  Chris has six siblings, and they all enjoy their backyard birds and other critters.  We don't have details on the species of Chickie, but in this case that's not what matters.  This is a small example of how having a blog can just simply be a fun way of sharing common interests and story telling and not worrying too much about technicalities.  For instance, Chris has no idea why this text is centering (she doesn't read code), but she's posting it anyway.  Mike is the technical brains behind our blog and does 99 percent of the posts, while Chris just stands around and tells him which pictures make her smile more.  The moral of this story: We're ready for spring migration - we're posting beavers and chickens!

Fox Sparrow