Pole Farm Sunday 11/14

Let's just say that I don't think it's going to be a big Short-eared Owl year based on the early winter going with a late afternoon visit to Pole Farm (Mercer Co. Park Northwest) in Lawrenceville:

American Kestrel: 1
Northern Harrier: 1
Short-eared Owl: 0

In recent years the number of Northern Harriers milling around have been a pretty good predictor of Short-eared Owl occupancy. Unlike the big year, I also haven't heard rodents milling around in the grass. Few rodents = few/no owls.

Other birds: Eastern Bluebirds, Hairy Woodpecker, large overhead flock of Grackles, some American Robin movement at sunset, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow. Really fairly quiet. Not even a Red-tailed Hawk perched along the fields, which might also correlate with the lack of mice.

New signage at Pole Farm

And by "new" I mean "sometime within the last couple of months" - because of a dearth of Short-eared Owls and even Northern Harriers at Pole Farm I've been going there infrequently despite the fact that it's by far my most local interesting birding area.

However on the tail end of the last big snow storm I made managed to get into the parking area off Federal City Road and found this sign on the old barn. It identifies the breeding and wintering grassland-dependent species there and tells the off-leash dog walker to reign them in. Given that Mercer County had not evidenced a clear direction for Pole Farm in the past, this is great news. I expect the dog walkers to largely ignore it, which is where cameras and video come in .......

The sign is also at the parking area at the other entrance to Pole Farm.

Jan 2nd - Mercer County Parks

To start the year out, I decided to head to Florence NJ to view the gulls in the river that accumulate there when the dump was in operation. Of course, on Friday the dump wasn't operating at all and there were very few birds to be seen, only the three species of gulls, and in the light snow not a great deal else.

While contemplating this debacle I decided to visit Mercer County Park in Lawrenceville/Hamilton to see if I could at least find a Common Merganser. I did, almost immediately, and there were a few small flocks flying around. Most of the lake was frozen but at the marina a decent size Canada Goose flock had accumulated. In the midst of it I found a Cackling Goose - classical in petite structure with a paler and pale-fringed mantle. Then while looking for more of them I came across a Greater White-fronted Goose in the same flock. After I returned with my scope I couldn't find the GWF but finally tracked it down after the flock decided to leave the lake and feed on the ball fields behind the ranger station near the marina. Two nice geese and not a bad consolation for Florence.

Near home I decided to check out the other version: Mercer County Park North West i.e. Pole Farm. The snow had stopped and the weather was starting to clear as I made it to the park. Almost immediately I saw a pale phase Rough-legged Hawk - rather unexpected - and then a few Northern Harriers (including two males) and an American Kestrel. A rather nice mix of raptors, padded by one of the local Red-tailed Hawks. After sprinting home to get the camera to see if I could get photos of the Rough-legged I returned just to watch the pale phase decided it had had enough action for one day and perch on the far side of the field. The icing on the cake was a dark phase Rough-legged that flew over the park toward dusk, ultimately ending up roosting on the far side of the other field I was monitoring.

I waited around until dusk and after the sun went down the final bird of the day was a single Short-eared Owl. Not as prolific as last year in terms of owls, Pole Farm still has some nice birds hunting the grassland this winter.

Interesting invasion patterns related to food supplies in northern wintering areas: last year was a Short-eared Owl invasion year, at least at Pole Farm but also in general; this year the numbers are low but in turn Snowy Owls and Rough-legged Hawks are having some of the best invasion numbers in years. I'm always conflicted about this - I love these birds but invasion years always correspond to years in which food supplies crash and the birds are starving. Many will not make it to return to breeding grounds.

Griggstown Preserve, October 25th and 26th

I birded Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve in Franklin Twp on the mornings of Sat and Sun the 25th and 26th. On the Saturday the weather was gray and foreboding the rain storm to come, and bird activity was fairly quiet with only a few sparrows. There were a few good hawks, however: two Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Red-tailed and an American Kestrel.

In contrast, after the passage of the storm, the following morning was much birdier with cooperative Savannah Sparrows everywhere and the usual suspects: Swamp, Savannah, Song, White-crowned, White-throated, Field Sparrows. There was also a late Blackpoll Warbler along with Yellow-rumped, Palm Warblers and Common Yellowthroat.

Bird activity at Pole Farm (Mercer Co Park NorthWest) was much lower, with Field and Song Sparrows, a fleeting Eastern Meadowlark, and the best bird being a fly-over immature Bald Eagle. Two Northern Harriers were hunting the fields.

The aggregate birding list for Griggstown was:
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Hairy Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch