2022 12 20

A Week at Milton ft. Fox Sparrow and Hermit Thrush¶

2022-12-20

This past week, I went birding at Milton Lake Park just about every morning and afternoon. At this time of year, the sun's arc in the sky provides great lighting across the park from about 8 am to 3 pm. Instead of making several blog posts, I'll try to summarize them into one post.

One (very cold) morning, I saw a Great Blue Heron on the bank of the river. He let me get very close and I ended up sitting across the water from him for over an hour. I got tons of photos and eventually, three deer came up to inspect him. The heron squawked at the deer when they got too close and they ran away. I also got to see the heron contort his long neck to scratch an itch on his back and side (always amazes me how well they articulate their necks).

Another morning, I heard a bunch of Belted Kingfishers flying just above the lake. This small bird is often hard to spot when stationary but makes a loud chirping sound as they fly over water looking for fish. I sat for over an hour trying to get a photo of a kingfisher in flight but no luck (they really don't like people).

Most mornings, I greet a jogger who is also a photographer. I also met someone who was walking their dog and spoke to him about the wildlife at the park. The man mentioned he is actually the person the town hires to kill off deer when their populations get too high. Another day, I ran into a friend I had met at Esposito Park in the summer and followed on Instagram. He noticed my new birding lens (Sony 200-600 G) and I checked out his new Nikon Z9 camera.

One afternoon, I saw a Fox Sparrow which I had not photographed before. They look similar to Chipping Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows but with more red streaks on their undersides. Another afternoon, I saw a Hermit Thrush, who I also had not photographed before, hopping around on a fence. I was excited to add both new entries to the compendium.

Another afternoon I saw a Red Fox walking along the cemetery trail. I was surprised the Red Fox did not run away as I walked nearby on the trail. After a while, I noticed there was a mostly eaten rotisserie chicken and carrots on the side of the trail (Thanksgiving leftovers?). I figured someone had left that there for the wildlife and the Red Fox was waiting to get the meal. That was definitely the case because the fox grabbed the chicken in its mouth and ran away as soon as I walked further down the trail.

Throughout my visits to the park this week, I observed several Northern Cardinals picking petals from high up in the trees. It seems they pick the petals, eat the seeds, and drop the rest of the petals. I was wondering why so many petals were falling around me.

This past week of birding made me realize Milton Lake Park is actually a great location both for observing wildlife and nature walks. Last year, when I had just gotten my camera, I thought the park did not have much to offer. My first impression was that it was unkept and limited with barely marked paths that can get muddy and overgrown. I was comparing it to the more maintained and suburbanized Esposito Park next door which offers sports fields and paved paths. Now that I am more experienced, I realize this makes for a relatively secluded exceptional birding location. I'm lucky that such a location is only a short walk away and I'm excited to see what else I'll discover there!

Locations/Sightings¶

-> #location/MiltonLakePark-Clark-NJ