Red-tailed Hawk

This hawk was in a tree in our yard this morning. A titmouse and a cardinal flew around very close to it, seemingly unaware of the hawk's presence, and it didn't seem interested in them.

Birds from Oberly Rd, Alpha, NJ

Horned Lark


White-crowned Sparrow


Savannah Sparrow


We went to Oberly Rd in Alpha in hopes of finding a snow bunting or Lapland Longspur that have been reported. No such luck, but we did see many horned larks and sparrows.

Downy Woodpeckers

Female Downy Woodpecker


Male Downy Woodpecker

Crossbills & Moorhen: photos by Greg

Thought you might like to have these shots for the blog. The first two are the Crossbills that have been in the Long Branch area recently. I was lucky enough to get awesome views (both life birds for me) of the Red & White-winged at the same time, coming as close as 5 feet at one point! The other shot is of the Common Moorhen that has been seen recently at the Kearny Marsh. They are usually pretty shy but this one seems to become quite outgoing when walking on ice. Hope you like them.

Horned Larks

Here's a new bird to us: The horned lark. They prefer very short grass. and when it snows, they congregate on patches that have no snow.

Winter Birds

Song Sparrow

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Brown Creeper

Here are a few of the less common winter birds in our yard.