Hurry up Spring, we are tired of winter.

 

Here's a photo of the first robin in our yard.

Sandhill Cranes Photo by Brian and Cindy in Franklin Twp

 

I have been seeing the same two sandhill cranes in Franklin twp over the last 3 weeks and I finally got a picture. They were pretty far away and I took the picture with my digital camera through my binoculars. A rare sight for New Jersey.

Northern Cardinal on a snowy day

 

It's always nice to see the bright red cardinals on an overcast snowy day. They sure know how to cheer a person up.

Common Mergansers take a snow day on Lake Nelson

 

We've never seen so many common mergansers.

Hawk Photo by Jan

 

As far as I can tell this is a red-tailed hawk that parked itself on a branch in our back yard recently for a couple of hours. I didn't actually see the tail so can't guarantee the identification but from other pictures I've seen it appears to be a match.

Jan

Hawk Photo by Matt

 

This fellow was hanging by my bird feeder.

Hawk waiting under the feeder

 

 

We're pretty sure this is a sharp-shinned hawk. It has been hunting by the feeder today, and once landed exactly where the cardinal had been perched previously. We know it has to eat too, but we're glad we haven't seen it catch any of our little friends. It's welcome to all the grackle it wants!

Contributed Photos: Red Bellied Woodpecker, Hawk, and Mockingbird

 

Male Red-Bellied WoodpeckerI have spent the last several days listening to several woodpeckers pecking away and finally this morning I spotted this Male pecking away. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers are my favorite bird! This photo was taken by misseymarie in Butler.

 

HawkThis hawk has been hanging out in my backyard for some time. I finally got a pic. Usually it flies away before I get the camera. Any ideas of what kind it may be????
Sandy- Piscataway, NJ

 

MockingbirdS. Sriram, Florham Park, NJ

Lesser Scaups

 

 

 

 

Rounding out today's water fowl are two male lesser scaups, who seem to be mostly napping. We spent quite some time outside and finally got a picture of them awake. They seem to get along with the other ducks.

Today's Mergansers

Today we're lucky enough to have larger than usual groupings of both the hooded and common mergansers.

 

 

 

 

The top photo shows one of the pairs of hooded mergansers that have been floating around Lake Nelson today. The bottom three photos are female common mergansers: fighting over whose fish it is, showing off, and having a bad hair day.