This afternoon, Jeff Ellerbusch found the first Tree Swallow of 2013 in the mocosocoBirds region. One was seen and heard along the D&R State Park towpath in Franklin Township. Unfortunately for the swallow, the weather forecast for the next few days does not bode well for insectivores. The Raritan River also held Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Goldeneye, Common Mergansers and Bufflehead.
—————
A tantalizing teal was viewed this afternoon at Finderne Wetlands in Bridgewater Township. A possible Eurasian Teal, or more likely an intergrade, was with the 30 Green-winged Teal in the west pond. The duck definitely lacked a vertical white stripe and appeared to have more prominent buffy facial stripes but a horizontal white stripe was not determined before the group of Teal flushed.
—————
No reports of the Glaucous Gull from Budd Lake today. It is not known if anyone looked.

Mike Wolfe did not find the Iceland Gull at Mt. Hope Pond or Mt. Hope Lake in Rockaway Township this afternoon.
—————
From Jennifer Books:
Late this morning my sister and I went birding at Lake Parsippany. I am happy to report that we saw 4 Redheads (life birds for us) mixed with about 100 Ring-necked Ducks and 1 female Ruddy Duck. In addition, there were probably hundreds of Common Megansers there as well as 4 Am. Coots, about 32 Canada Geese, a large number of Ring-billed Gulls, and 1 Mute Swan.
—————
From: New Jersey Audubon, Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary

Isobel Wayrick Wildlife Art Gallery to Feature Work of Bernardsville Local, Joseph F. Pescatore

From March through May, the Isobel Wayrick Wildlife Art Gallery will feature the work of Joseph F. Pescatore, a local Bernardsville businessman (resident) and photographer. The Gallery is part of the New Jersey Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, also located in Bernardsville.

An avid birder and photographer, Pescatore brings to the gallery an innovative body of work created through a process known as digiscoping. This method of photography is ideal for capturing birds and other far away objects or animals because it involves attaching a spotting scope to a digital camera. Through digiscoping, Pescatore can photograph distant birds that he may not be able to get close to on foot, opening up a wide range of possibilities particularly of interest to wildlife photographers.

This exhibit will allow people to learn more about digiscoping and to see the types of images that can be captured through the method. The exhibit opens on March 1. The Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary is located at 11 Hardscrabble Road in Bernardsville. For more information, call 908-766-5787, email shws@njaudubon.org, or check out the Scherman Hoffman section of the NJ Audubon website at www.njaudubon.org.