Wildlife in Bloomfield ... Who Knew?
North end resident recaps rare sightings of foxes, deer and a red-tailed hawk
Photos
My writing career has taken me to many spots well beyond New Jersey borders, but as well to many locations in the Garden State.
On these many trips, I’ve had the opportunity to see many varieties of flora and wild animals to make the miles worth it. However, I’ve also found that within the five-plus square miles of our own township, life lurks beyond my tiny Darling Avenue home where two miniature dachshunds roam the yard.
Consider a recent, chilly Wednesday evening, when I was forced - while locked out of our home – to wait for my wife and daughter to return home from a play at Montclair State University. As I stood, laptop in my right hand, I saw up Sylvan Road, about 25 yards away, two red foxes slowly cross the road, one in front of the other, and disappear into a neighbor’s yard. I strolled a bit up sidewalk while keeping my distance, hoping to catch a glance of the two had they opted to return to the street.
No luck, but a sighting nonetheless.
No deer in Bloomfield? I beg to differ. Perhaps the south end of town, my stomping ground for 22 years, may claim this, but folks on the north end, I have seen or come face-to-face with a deer or two – or three.
For me, the number is one, and it occurred one morning during a 5 a.m. stroll with Jeffrey, the older of our two dogs. Since our street is often devoid of early morning pedestrians, I allow him to wander up Sylvan Road rather than grapple and try to get his leash on, he squirming as I attempt to fasten the collar. On this morning, as we returned to the house, I was a few steps in front and, when I reached the private road behind our tiny development, there it stood, facing me from roughly 30 yards away at the road’s opposite end. We locked eyes, and I had thoughts of advancing towards it, but didn’t want to scare it away. It stayed put for about 10 seconds, until it saw 10-pound Jeffrey. The hasty retreat up North Avenue was marked by clopping hooves which quieted as it got further away.
As unusual as these two sightings were, nothing beats the appearance of a red-tailed hawk that one day in February, which attacked sparrows nipping at wheat bread in our azalea bush bird feeder, and then rested atop a telephone pole directly above my wife’s car. I was so amazed by its size and wing span that I immediately contacted both the New Jersey Audubon Society in Cape May County and Great Swamp Wildlife Refuge in Somerset County. Both asked me to take photos if I could of the “eagle” I told them I had spotted, so I did so as the hawk pulled and chewed on something.
It was the perfect photo op: me, my Sony digital camera, and this gorgeous bird atop the telephone pole, a somewhat overcast sky and various empty tree branches the backdrop.
“That’s a hawk,” the gentleman from the Great Swamp told me via e-mail,” but, hey, isn’t that great to see in your own backyard?”
Indeed it was.
Pat Gilleran
11:34 pm on Thursday, May 5, 2011
Coyote sightings at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield as well as on Upper Mountain in Montclair. Plenty of deer between Essex and Broad St from Sunset to Bay (we see them early in the morning) and turkey sightings on my block (Sunset) as well. Not to mention our usual visitors: skunk, opossum, racoons, a fox or two, groundhogs, the hawks that nest on the Glen Ridge Country Club, an occassional owl, and ther mallards that visit my pool.
Last year's surprise were two red-shafted flickers pounding on the ground in my backyard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Flicker
and an Osprey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osprey
If you want to see eagles around here you should visit the Montclair Hawk Watch - bald eagles spotted in the fallhttp://www.njaudubon.org/SectionBirdingSites/MontclairHawkWatch.aspx
Clark's Pond in Bloomfield is also a great place to see wildlife.
Kurt Torster
6:57 am on Friday, May 6, 2011
We commonly see deer as well as a fox and just the other day, wild turkeys, in the Oakview section.
Pete Mock
10:51 am on Friday, May 6, 2011
We've seen deer in Bloomfield Cemetery on and off for many years, and a couple decided to take up residence for a while. I haven’t seen the foxes this year, but we’ve seen and heard them the last few years. Saw the turkeys on Broad street a few weeks ago, which would probably explain the turkey vultures we've seen flying low over the neighborhood. But I'd rather have red tails than turkey vultures.
Steve Sears
11:05 am on Friday, May 6, 2011
Good morning:
Thank you Pat, Kurt and Pete for your comments.
I hope you enjoyed the article.
Steve
ann
11:10 am on Friday, May 6, 2011
I actually saw two fawns running into Brookdale park (Bellevue Ave Side) on my way to work one morning. I also saw last week, a wild turkey walking across Broughton Avenue. I think it's great!!
Steve Sears
11:17 am on Friday, May 6, 2011
Ann:
I DID see a fox late one night in Brookdale Park some time back.
The deer always eem to be in abundance.
Steve
Don Cornell
10:11 pm on Friday, May 6, 2011
In the summer of 2008 a red-tailed hawk was frequently sighted around the Bloomfield Green, often perched on the steeple of the Presbyterian church at the head of the Green. I was outside the church one day when the hawk swooped down and killed a rabbit. I happened to have my camera with me and snapped a series of photos. At one point the hawk flew up and perched on a ledge below a second-story window, so I went inside and took some shots from just a couple of feet away. I assume it waited until everyone left, then retrieved its dinner, as the rabbit was gone the next day.
I posted the photos on Flickr; they can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=red-tailed+hawk+bloomfield+nj
Steve Sears
10:14 pm on Friday, May 6, 2011
Hi Don:
Great shots, and a great story.
I loved the shots from behind the hawk, a few feet away.
Thanks for sharing,
Steve
Geoff Gove
11:33 am on Saturday, May 7, 2011
ONe of the best photographers of local wold life in town is Pat Ciesla. I just updated a blog post on her pix, including a red fox, hawk and a variety of birds: http://bloomfieldgreenways.blogspot.com/2011/05/wildlife-living-it-up-in-bloomfield.html
Steve Sears
2:01 pm on Saturday, May 7, 2011
Hi Geoff:
Thanks for steering me (and others) towards the blog and photos.
Pat takes some great photos!
Steve
Sonia
9:02 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
This morning, I watched wild turkey walking on a neighbors lawn on Williamson Avenue and Belleville. Then they took their time crossing the street. They were not alarmed by people or cars. Cars had to navigate around them. I'm new to the neighborhood and had to come to this sight, because last week I saw 2 possums, or foxes coming from the GSP onto Belleville Avenue.