The ML Birders took a second trip out to the Forsythe Refuge to get a better assemblage of migrating ducks and Snow Geese. We did find a nice flock of Snow Geese and a diverse variety of ducks, but unlike past trips we did not see large numbers of ducks.
The outing to Forsythe was blessed by magnificent weather and a nice variety of bird life. Egrets and Herons were particularly abundant with Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets in large numbers.
Brilliant sun and blue skies welcomed the Pathways trip to Palmyra Cove. Lots of birds, especially warblers and Baltimore Orioles, vocalizing and in many cases challenging us to not only identify them by song but to try and find them in the foliage.
The day was gray, a little on the cool side and not very breezy, but the birds seemed to pay the weather no mind.
The weather gods finally relented and gave us a mostly sunny, relatively warm and most importantly windless day to visit the refuge. We were hoping to see the Gyrfalcon which was present a few days before our visit but had not been seen in the prior couple of days.
It was cool and windy with only partial sun. However, we did see some great birds, and it started in the parking lot, where we picked up a Brown Creeper and a Peregrine Falcon that circled over us and landed on the top of the lighthouse.
The Medford Leas Birders traveled up to Princeton to visit the Rogers Refuge, which makes up a small portion of the Institute Woods.
The Pathways boat trip through the inland waters around Cape May started out on an ominous note as we traveled to our destination from Medford Leas. Overcast skies and intermittent rain occurred most of the way.
It was a top ten weather day in a beautiful setting but only a fair day for the number and variety of birds seen and heard.
A bright, breezy, cool and sunny day greeted ten ML Birders at Brightview Farm. We managed to see and/or hear 25 species with excellent views of a Bobolink and a confusing sparrow perched and singing on a pasture fence.
The rain ceased, the sun appeared and six ML birders spent a pleasant morning birding at Boundary Creek Park. We saw and/or heard 36 species that included some good views of a Warbling Vireo singing on a branch.
For most people our outing to Bombay Hook NWR would be just a gray and dreary day but for 15 Medford Leas Birders and guests it was “paradise.” There was a dearth of bugs in the wooded areas, it did not rain and we had an abundance of birds.
It was a damp, cool (low 50’s) and gray day but three ML Birders did manage to walk the ML Trails and saw and/or heard 29 species.
On a picture perfect Spring day five ML Birders and one guest visited Mercer County Parks Abbott Marshlands (formerly Trenton-Hamilton Marsh) just east of Trenton, NJ.
The day had an early nip in the air but warmed to bright and sunny very quickly. ML Birders walked the trails of Lumberton Leas and the central meadow and saw and heard a total of 33 species in the wetlands and uplands areas.
Fourteen ML Birders and two guests visited the open farmlands, tidal marshes and Delaware Bayshore of Salem County on a warm, partly sunny and very blustery day.
Salem County in spring can offer very interesting birding; it has early migrants and arrivals, but also can hold on to winter birds.
Arriving at the hawkwatch about 10:15, we found a moderate flight of accipiters underway, with constant Cooper’s and Sharpshinned Hawks in the air…. On our way home we found and identified a couple of interesting caterpillars.
Two trips in one – a scouting run and a fall field trip, in shorebird season.
A great day of bird photography at the rookery.
The ML Birders headed out to Belleplain State Forest on a gray and blustery day hoping to see some early arriving warblers. The birding gods were conspiring against them!
Mannington Marsh, the tidal estuary of the Salem River, is a beautiful place to look for waterfowl and early spring migrants.
A beautiful day, with thousands of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers and plenty of hawks to watch.
