From Tom Smith: I managed to get a photo of the Yellow-breasted Chat on Washington Valley Road this morning (photo above). My brother and I both agreed that there were times that it sounded like there were two of them singing/calling – I don’t know if that was the case, or whether it was an illusion. There was a Brown Thrasher in the vicinity that was mimicking chat sounds, so that should be taken into account.

Editor’s note: Tom is precise with his description. When the Yellow-breasted Chat (YBCH) was first heard on May 30, I thought a Brown Thrasher was doing a spot on imitation of a YBCH – and it was! Then I heard what was unmistakably a YBCH…or so I thought.

Currently there are two Yellow-breasted Chats in Morris County: one at Great Swamp NWR (see post) and the subject of the current post at the Patriots Path section of Washington Valley Rd. in Morris Twp. in the west section of the field west of Ranney Hill Rd.