Red Breasted Nuthatch: Round Valley Recreation Area

Here are two of 200 photos of the red breasted nuthatch that Mike took at Round Valley Recreation Area today.

Dark Eyed Junco

The arrival of the juncos remind us that winter is approaching.

Horned Grebe: Liberty State Park

We've been wanting to see a horned grebe, but we'll have to come back in the spring when its more colorful.

Blue Jay

If a bird with these colors was rare, we'd drive miles to see it and post every photo we could take. When there are a dozen in your backyard, it's easy to overlook how beautiful the blue jay actually is.

It's getting too easy: Northern Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse

The new sony a580 and the birds coming to the deck are producing much higher quality photos than a few years back. We'll have to get out more.

Thanksgiving Visitors: Northern Cardinal and Red Bellied Woodpecker

Some sunflower seeds brought the cardinal and red-bellied woodpecker to the deck.

Oh, and another titmouse.

Tufted Titmouse: these peanuts are making me thirsty

 

We have about 5 tufted titmice that are daily visitors to the feeders. They also like coming to the deck railing for peanuts and the water feature for a drink.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

 

When it gets below freezing at night and above freezing during the day, the sap is running and the sapsuckers are active. We had two in the yard yesterday.

Fork Tailed Fly Catcher: Photo by Greg

 

There have been quite a few people from Jersey heading to Connecticut to see the Fork-tailed Flycatcher & thought you might like to have a picture for the blog.


Directions to see the flycatcher in Stamford, CT

Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren

Mike is still playing with his new camera.

It was nice of the wren to come by.

Ring-necked pheasants

We went to Spruce Run Reservoir in hopes of seeing horned larks, snow buntings and horned grebes that have been reported there. Instead, we mainly saw a lot of people with guns and these two pheasants. Backyard birding is safer on youth hunting day.

Hooded Merganser: Photo by Rob

This photo was taken at Sylvan Lake, Avon-By-The–Sea. There were at least 20 hooded mergansers on 11/14. This lake is narrow and presents a good opportunity for photography with a modest telephoto lens (e.g. 300mm).

Mike got a new camera!!!

 

 

 

 

Santa Claus came a little early to our house. Here are some photos from Mike's new camera (Sony A580). Red-bellied woodpecker, nuthatch and titmouse. It's better in low light such as cloudy mornings than the old one.

Birding in Wine Country

View from Bella Vineyards


Western Meadowlark in Sonoma


Pacific Loon in Palo Alto Baylands Preserve


American Pipit in Petaluma


Oak Titmouse in Geyersville


Says Phoebe in Petaluma


Mike had business in Palo Alto, CA, last Friday, so Chris came along to make a long weekend of it in Sonoma County wine country. Chris got to see the endangered California clapper rail (not pictured here) at the Baylands at sunrise Saturday. Although most of the time was spent in wineries and restaurants, there was still time to spot a few birds on Sunday AM and on the way back Monday. We got to add the oak titmouse to our life list, but he doesn't have the fancy colors or eye makeup as does the tufted titmouse we see at home in New Jersey.

Acorn Woodpecker

During a trip to Healdsburg, CA, we got some bird watching in during the mornings. We were happy to find an acorn woodpecker storing acorns.