Leucistic hawk

One day about a month ago, Chris was driving home from having a nice lunch with Mike. Close to our exit off of Route 18, she saw something very large and white perched in a tree. She called Mike and said, I think I just saw an all white hawk. He suggested she put on warmer clothes and take another drive around to see if she could get pictures. No luck that day. Another day Mike thought he saw it, and it was around the same time in the afternoon on another sunny day. So, one day Chris and Mike went out together on a sunny afternoon specifically looking for this curious specimen. No luck that day either, but we did get chased off by the police for parking along the side of the road. Mike is persistent and dedicated to the mission, so today when we were heading out for the movies, he suggested we bring the camera and make a scan for the hawk since it was sunny and around the same time again. Well, weren't we lucky today! He is likely a leucistic red-tailed hawk.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Mr. Cardinal

 

The Northern Cardinal is one of our favorite winter birds in New Jersey.

Winter birds: Tufted Titmouse, Goldfinch and Blue Jay

 

A heated bird bath, some nyjer seed, and some peanuts help the birds get through a cold winter. The backyard birds help us get through the winter.

Sharp-shinned Hawk For Pat

Chris' sister Pat complained that we haven't been posting recently. It's been cold and cloudy and the usual birds have been around: finches, cardinals, woodpeckers, titmice, juncos, etc. However, they all leave when the sharp-shinned hawk comes by.

Canvasback Ducks at DeKorte

We went to the DeKorte Park's Lyndhurst Nature Reserve today. We didn't see the northern shrike that has been reported there, but we did see quite a few canvasback ducks. Most were resting with their heads on their backs, but we found a male (top photo) and a female (second photo) that were awake. The male's head looks brilliant when the sun catches it.

Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers

This time of year is ideal for sapsuckers. When it's freezing at night and above freezing in the day, the sap flows the most. It's also a good time for making maple syrup.

The sapsucker opens up holes in the tree that benefit him and other birds. We've seen red-bellied woodpeckers, goldfinch, and chickadees eat either sap or insects from these holes.

Ducks at Haddon Lake Park: Photos by Kate

 

 

 

I have been a casual visitor of your site for a few months- I love your photos!! I am hoping you could help me identify the duck in the first picture I attached (the all brown one with a dark bill). The others I just attached because the mallards were having so much fun in the sun today out on the frozen lake. The white ducks were also out on the lake with the mallards soaking up the sun. These pictures were taken on a walk around Haddon Lake Park in Haddon Heights, NJ on January 16th.

Thanks for your help identifying that first duck!
Kate

More Winter Robins

We had a large flock of robins come by this afternoon. They only stayed for a few minutes. Last week, Chris put out cranberries for the visiting winter robins, but none were eaten. Today, several of the robins found cranberries and ate them. Finally!!!

Hungry Woodpeckers

Today was a pretty active morning at the bird feeders. There were plenty of woodpeckers including a hairy woodpecker (lower photo) who hasn't been around that often. In the upper photo, a red-bellied woodpecker is taking a peanut.

Red Fox on Lake Nelson

 

 

Mike was up early this morning and noticed a fox running across the frozen lake. It stopped for a while to get its photo taken and then ran off into the wooded area by the dam. A couple weeks ago when the lake first froze, Chris thought she saw a fox go by in the same direction, but she didn't jump off the treadmill to get the binoculars to confirm it. (Mike said he believed her then, but now he really believers her!)

Birdcam Photos

Mike got a birdcam for Christmas and is using an eye-fi wireless memory card to load pictures on the computer. While the photos are not as good as the DSLR, it beats going outside in cold and has a longer attention span. Click on the bottom photo to see a slideshow of common winter backyard feeder birds: finches, a cardinal, a chickadee, a goldfinch, a tufted titmouse, a nuthatch, a blue jay, and more.

More Photos of Winter Birds in NJ

Carolina Wren


White-throated Sparrow

The Carolina Wren and the White-throated Sparrow are common birds in New Jersey in the winter but harder to photograph because they rarely come to bird feeders and spend most of their time in the underbrush.

On the banks of the old Raritan

Female Common Merganser

Ring-necked Ducks

Lake Nelson is frozen so we have no wintering ducks. We took a walk on the D&R Canal in New Brunswick (off Landing Lane) and encountered a few.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The brilliant red head of this bird brightens a winter day in NJ.

Winter Robins

 

 

When Mike was getting ready for work this morning, Chris noticed we had some Robins in the yard. She ran outside to throw some cranberries around for them. Then when he was leaving, Mike suggested that Chris try to get some photos for the blog. By that time, the flock of robins had increased to about 30, which made it all the more fun for Chris. They were everywhere! They didn't seem the least bit interested in the cranberries, preferring to hunt on the ground instead. Chris even put out some dried mealworms which they took no interest in. What they really do seem to appreciate, though, is the water. We use a heated bird bath during winter to keep the water from freezing, and it is popular with all the birds, especially the goldfinches. One picture shows three at a time at the water, but at times there were up to five (which Chris found too difficult to capture in pictures but had fun watching.) We really wish we could figure out what birds are supposed to eat the popcorn and cranberries, because we popped a lot of popcorn and only the Blue Jays have taken a few pieces.

Winter Backyard Birds

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinals

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Although no one eats the cranberries, one adds some color to the Junco picture. The red bellied woodpecker and male cardinal bring their own color.

Squirrel monkey- Bonnet House, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Yes, we know it's a bird blog. We went down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a few days to get away from the winter. We planned on doing a little birding, and while reading about places close to our hotel, we discovered that the Bonnet House had Brazilian Squirrel monkeys in addition to being a good place to bird. It was within walking distance from our hotel, so one afternoon we took a stroll over and did the grounds only tour, preferring to stay outside in the warm weather. We had to walk around a few times before we encountered the monkeys. We put our previously learned monkey spotting techniques to work. (We've watched monkeys when on vacation in Brazil and Costa Rica.) When we heard funny noises and things started falling out of the trees around our heads, we knew they were close. When they got really active, it was impossible to miss them, and we spent about an hour observing and photographing their crazy behavior. We even saw one eat a dragonfly. We just couldn't get enough of them.

Mike assumed they were in cages or on a small island, but Chris was right and they roam freely on the 35 acre grounds of the Bonnet House Museum & Gardens. There are plenty of plants and insects to eat here and the little tennis ball heads (as we nicknamed them) seemed to be living the good life.

We took a few too many photos to post here, so if you like squirrel monkeys you can see the rest on Flickr

Anhinga from Bonnet House in Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale Birds

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

Palm warbler

Ibis

Here's a juvenile ibis and an adult (all white), from Ft. Lauderdale.

Florida Iguana

One of the places listed as a hot spot for birding in Florida was the Evergreen Cemetery. There were some nice trees and a lagoon or canal that ran along the back end, which is where we took a few of the bird photos. After being there for a while, Chris noticed a VERY LARGE iguana in a tree near a small heron. We worried for a while that it was planning a meal, but there was no need for us to worry as we remembered they're vegetarians. So, as we made our way around to the other side of the water for better lighting conditions for pictures for Mike, Chris was loathe to discover there were A LOT of her least favorite creatures, the iguanas, in the trees. They all seemed to be sunning themselves in the trees, which is fine, but as Mike pointed out, Chris would never rest in peace if buried in this cemetery.

Royal Tern begging for a meal

 

The beach and the sun were the real reasons for our trip to Florida. We couldn't help stopping to watch a royal tern demanding to be fed. This photo was taken with our people camera not the birding one. Mike likes royal terns because their hair reminds him of George Costanza.