This evening while scouting in the management area of the Great Swamp N.W.R. with a permit, Simon Lane and myself were fortunate to see an adult Tricolored Heron. It flew over the ponds and perched in various places before flying off towards the vicinity of the Friends Blind. It is possible if this heron sticks around that it will be visible from the Friends Blind location. There are few records for this species in Morris County and making this even more special is that is an adult in spring. One would expect this primarily coastal heron to disperse in late summer if it were to show up at an inland location at all in New Jersey. Tricolored Heron is not even mentioned in any category on the official Great Swamp list of birds revised in 2009.

Other than that, night birding until 9:45 p.m. was sluggish. One Sora called and one Common Nighthawk visited the area – no Rails, no Bitterns, no Gallinules.

Submitted by Jonathan Klizas