tufted titmouse

Highland Park Backyard Birds

It’s the time of year when people post cumulative posts. You know, usually the ones that say Favorites of 2014 or Best Posts of the Last Year or that sort of thing. I decided to post Highland Park backyard birds that I have seen since I started bird watching. Let’s see – I first bought a bird feeder in February 2010; I did find some of my bird photos from 2009. The birds below are listed in alphabetical order – enjoy.

Blue Jay

blue jay on deck
Blue jays visit every now and then. When they do come, they are sure to make noise and hog the bird feeder.

Cardinal

Cardinal: backyard bird in Highland Park, New Jersey
I took this photo about two weeks ago – cardinals love to visit my backyard when I fill my feeder with black oil sunflower seeds. I see the red in my backyard, and it warms my heart.

Cardinal – Female

Female Cardinal Highland Park New Jersey backyard bird
Mrs. Cardinal is usually nearby when I spot Mr. Cardinal (above) first. She indeed was there at the same time as the photo taken above.

Catbird

catbird on tomato plant holder
I seem to get catbird visitors in summer months. Pleasant birds: I enjoy the “singing.”

Chickadee

black capped chickadee goes into bird feeder
I don’t often see a chickadee – the one above is from February 2012. But they are handsome birds – so I love seeing one!

Downy Woodpecker

downy woodpecker
I am more likely to hear a woodpecker than see one. The one above was sighted in February 2014.

Finch

house finch
This rare beauty (rare for my backyard) was sighted in December 2013. Maybe if I am more diligent this winter with my camera and my feeder, I will find more.

Goldfinch

bird on echinacea
If you look very carefully, I believe that’s a goldfinch hidden in my echinacea. I saw a few goldfinch this past summer on other echinacea in my neighborhood. I suppose it’s the seeds they are after.

Grackle

grackle on roof
I only had the chance to photograph grackle once my backyard. Turns out I had also photographed a grackle way back in 2008 while visiting Ein Gedi in Israel.

Mourning Dove

brown dove
Mourning doves are birds I see a few times a year in my backyard.

Robin

robin on wire close up
When I looked up “robin” in my photo collection, I had quite a few choices. We do have robins as fairly frequent visitors in our area.

Sparrow

Sparrows three backyard birds in a tree in Highland Park, New Jersey backyard
Sparrows are by far the most common bird in my backyard. I believe most of the ones that I see are house sparrows. I should study the different types of sparrows so I can appreciate them a little more. These three beauties were hanging out together in my backyard tree last week.

Starling

starlings in a tree
The few times I’ve seen starlings it’s been in a swarm like the one above. I still remember Michelle calling them “snarling starlings.”

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse in Highland Park New Jersey
I saw this tufted titmouse in my backyard last week. Tufted titmice aren’t frequent visitors, but when I do see them, they seem to pose and look at the camera. I find them quite cute.

Turkey Vulture

turkey vulture flying over Highland Park, New Jersey backyard
What fun, a swooping wide-winged bird in one’s own backyard. Here is the turkey vulture that visited this past October.

If you want to see a full list of Highland Park birds, and not just the ones I’ve seen and not just Highland Park backyard birds go to Highland Park, New Jersey: Bird Sightings. We have been putting those online since 2001.

For more Nature Notes:
Nature Notes

Tufted Titmouse and Blue Jay

tufted titmouse
A tufted titmouse enjoyed the bird feeder I refilled two days after Hurricane Sandy came and went. I am rather burnt out of talking about post-storm problems, but in quick summary, most of Highland Park now has its power restored. We had wonderful utility workers from Florida who did much of the fixing (PSE&G was maxed out – I understand nearby Edison had workers from Ontario, Canada). So thank you, Florida and Canada. A few homes reportedly did not yet have power, but they’ve been promised fixing by today. We shall see. Meanwhile, back to the birds.

Sandy Storm titmouse

I was pleased to photograph a bird new to me – thank you, Michelle, for identifying the tufted titmouse.
tufted titmouse by the bird feeder

blue jay bird feeder

I’ve been seeing more blue jays recently than I have in the past. No signs of cardinals right now.
blue jay in bird feeder

Help yourself, Mr. Blue Jay.
blue jay by bird feeder

I will try my best to continue filling my bird feeder through the winter.