Simply put, this morning’s influx of migrant birds was outstanding in the Morris and Somerset County area. Sayre’s Farm had more individuals than this observer has seen there in over one year of birding the location. As this post is being composed, Jeff Ellerbusch reports that Glenhurst is “spectacular” as well.

Panoramic vision would have helped this morning. It was hard to choose where to focus because there were so many birds. With more eyes, I am sure the species list would be much larger. All numbers are conservative. Most birds were rapidly working through the trees and were not accounted for. The highlight was a Connecticut Warbler (apparent 1st year male) which conveniently posed for a good 30 seconds before disappearing. The number of Magnolia Warblers and Northern Parulas was impressive. Although the list only says 20 and 15 respectively, those are individuals that were actually counted and not the dozens of others that moved on. There was the 1st known report of Yellow-rumped Warbler in Morris County for the season. 2 Lincoln’s Sparrows and 3 Purple Finches round out the morning’s haul.

Eastern Wood-Pewee – 2
Eastern Phoebe – 4
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1 Singing
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo – 15
Tennessee Warbler – 2
Nashville Warbler – 2
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat – 15
American Redstart – 10
Northern Parula – 15
Magnolia Warbler – 20
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Palm Warbler – 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
Black-throated Green Warbler – 8
Canada Warbler – 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
Indigo Bunting – 4
Purple Finch – 3 (1 male, 2 females).