Photo Study Of Grasshopper Sparrows At Bright View Farm, Chesterfield, NJ (Burlington County), June 1st, 2011

    Don Eyre introduced Bright View Farm to Mike DeBonis and me this morning. What an incredible place. This privately owned horse farm is one of the finest habitats for grassland
    birds in the East. The owner, Christine Connelly is very interested in birds and maintains her fields to maximize diversity. She has generously opened her property to birders.

    Most of this strikingly beautiful farm of several hundred acres is pastureland but it also has a small swamp on its northwestern boundary, a small nursery where Dickcissels
    breed, deciduous woods on the hillside behind the horse barn and miles of fences on which birds can perch. In any event, here are some of the photos:

Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow 

Grasshopper Sparrow 

 Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow 

    The Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) is a small (5 inches long with a 7.5 inch wingspan) furtive bird of open grasslands. The Grasshopper Sparrow takes its name
    not only from its diet, but also from its insect-like song. It is found during the breeding season across much of the eastern United States and Great Plains, nesting and foraging on
    the ground in vegetation, mainly eating insects, especially grasshoppers, and seeds. The Ammodramus genus of 11 species inhabit grasslands and marshes.

    The upperparts of the adult Grasshopper Sparrow are streaked with brown, grey, black and white; they have a light tan breast, a white belly and a short brown tail. Their face
    is light brown with an eye ring and a dark brown crown with a central narrow light stripe. The lores are yellow toward the front and russet-brown at the rear. Their breeding
    habitat is open fields and prairie across southern Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central America. The nest is a well-concealed open cup on the ground under vegetation.
    The northern populations migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. (Cornell BNA; Wikipedia; Sibley Guide To Birds)

Male Bobolink In Breeding Plumage

Eastern Kingbird

 Eastern Kingbird

Chipping Sparrow

 Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

 Savannah Sparrow

 
 Eastern Bluebird

 
                                                                              Eastern Bluebird Fledglings                                                                                      

Male Baltimore Oriole

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow
 
Barn Swallow

        Species seen today were:

    To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnail or the caption...thanks!

       © Howard B. Eskin 2011      Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com    Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index