Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Well it's been hell over the last few days. I was an idiot and poured water on my laptop and had to wait for the right funds to come in before I could get the one I'm currently using, but more importantly for this blog, something more significant has occurred. As a result of my computer related mishap, I've lost all my bird lists including my life list, year list, and Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Preserve property list. It sucks and I'm trying to get everything back as quickly as possible. Sorry for the setback. I hope I can share some better news soon.

I got to visit home this weekend and visited my old stomping grounds of Great Meadows in Concord where I went looking for Least Bitterns ( Ixobrychus exilis ). As you can imagine, my cryptic bird searching skills aren't stellar, so I went about my business looking for other familiar marsh birds. I didn't have to search for long as some birders were clustered near a bench towards the start of the center trail leading into the marsh. I walked over and looked carefully. It took me a few moments, but I finally saw the little bird of interest. It was a Sora ( Porzana carolina ). The second Sora I've ever seen (the first being last year at Great Meadows as well). Below are the pictures I managed to get of the little one and I was so pleased with the results. The added advantage of my putting these up here is that I can also link my eBird account to here for verification. The algorithm considers these to be rare at Great Meadows for this time of...

Apologies for the late entry, but I have finally gotten around to writing this week's entry.  This past Sunday I got the chance to visit a very cool place called the Negri-Nepote Native Grassland in Franklin Township, NJ. I came here after hearing that a pair of Dickcissels ( Spiza americana ) had been spotted the day prior. After arriving, the first birds I saw were the ubiquitous American Robins ( Turdus migratorius ) and a few pairs of Eastern Bluebirds ( Sialia sialis ), as well as hearing the jabbering song of a nearby House Wren ( Troglodytes aedon ). I'd come for two other species other than the rare Dickcissels. I found them within the first ten minutes and they were a sight to behold. The first life bird I got was a Grasshopper Sparrow ( Ammodramus savannarum ). This lovely male decided to survey his surroundings from atop this bird house support pole allowing for good pictures and lasting views. For such a furtive bird, being out in the open seemed unusual. How...