Eastern Whip-poor-wills have been reported this April from Glades Wildlife Refuge in Cumberland County and Jakes Landing in Cape May County, but hearing one at the Great Swamp in Morris County this morning was completely unexpected. As far as is known, this may be the earliest record of this species in northern New Jersey (north of I-195) unless there is documentation of an earlier one. An example of early arrival dates for Eastern Whip-poor-will in the northeast is given by Cornell’s The Birds of North America Online: “At Cape May, NJ, arrives late April, with earliest date 28 March (Sibley 1997). In Massachusetts, migration detected late April–late May with earliest date 12 April (Veit and Peterson 1993).”

Pre-dawn in the Great Swamp this morning was typical of this time period with at least two Virginia Rails kidicking, male and female Great Horned Owls hooting in duet, American Woodcock peenting and displaying in the light of the waning gibbous moon, an occasional croak by a Great Blue Heron, and various bursts of song by Swamp and Song Sparrows and other species. At 5:35 the Whip-poor-will began its song and three minutes and over one hundred repetitions later, it stopped. Whip-poor-will is considered an accidental on the Swamp’s checklist. Long-time Great Swamp birders may have heard this bird once, if at all, most likely the latter. Combine that with the time of month it was heard and this becomes a remarkable record for the Great Swamp N.W.R., Morris County and northern New Jersey.