Fairweather Zealot

The notice that this beautiful bird was being seen here in NJ was put out on the Jersey Birds list. I took the (gorgeous) day off today to head to Cape May and my last stop was to see if I could find this rarity. I showed up at the property and waited 45 minutes. I was getting up to leave when I saw a flash of red in the trees at the edge of the property – it was him! I waited quietly for a while and he came to the feeder where I could get a better look. All of those colors were just a spectacle.
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We got a little surprise yesterday when the JerseyBirds list announced that a Green-tailed Towhee (Papilo chlorurus) had been sighted in Collingswood – right down the road from me! Unfortunately, the poster didn’t know if the owners of the house were willing to let people know where they lived so I had to wait for word before I went over to see this rarity – at least for the east coast. Continue reading