Photo Gallery
Photos by Michael O’Brien unless otherwise noted
Spring in the northeast is a season of cool, misty mornings, sweet air, and an endless stream of birdsong. Deciphering the myriad of sounds from a May dawn chorus is a challenging endeavor but one that brings heightened pleasure to this season of rejuvenation. Here, the normally unobtrusive Ovenbird explodes into song.
The mix of habitats in northern New Jersey harbors a wide diversity of birds and is an ideal place to brush up on bird song identification. The landscape is dominated by large tracts of mature deciduous forest, home to Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Veery, Cerulean Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and many others.
We’ll encounter rushing, hemlock-lined streams and roaring waterfalls where the songs of Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and sometimes Winter Wren pierce through the din.
Scattered wetlands within the forest offer a different mix of birds. This cedar swamp is home to Ruffed Grouse, Hermit Thrush, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackburnian and Canada Warblers, Northern Waterthrush and Purple Finch.
As we venture into more open country, overgrown fields and brushy bogs are home to Black-billed Cuckoo, Blue-winged, Golden-winged and Prairie Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat and Indigo Bunting.
We’ll pass through open meadows and farmland where we’ll hear Horned Lark, Vesper, Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark.
On this tour, we’ll focus on identifying birds by sound in general while paying particular attention to some of the most similar species groups. This includes species that are often more distinctive by sound than by sight such as this Acadian Flycatcher…
…and others, such as this Black-and-white Warbler, whose appearance is distinctive but whose song may be confusingly similar to other species.
Photo: Rich Ditch
We’ll also enjoy some of the most beautiful songs on earth, such as that of the Wood Thrush.