Eastern Bluebird, Great Swamp NWR, NJ, Jan. 26, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

When the Eastern Bluebird, above, was photographed 10 days ago, winter was hard but bearable. The word bearable does not apply anymore. Our road is not plowed as of 11:00 a.m. after the latest wintry weather event. Nothing unusual there as we must be the last on the list in Morris Township. The feeder action is slow. Bird reports in the mocosocoBirds area are sparse this week. Here are a few:

From Elizabeth Murphy in the Morris area:
“A Ruby-crowned Kinglet has been visiting our feeders consistently for about a month now. The bird feeds on the suet two or three times a day, usually mid-morning, staying for only a couple of moments each time. He does not come everyday (or it is hard to track because of work), but does seem to be a fairly regular feeder at this point.”

A Cackling Goose was in Washington Township (Long Valley) near the Gillette Trail on Feb. 4 (Mike Britt).

An eBird report from the far west of Morris, namely, little-known Waterloo Lakes – actually a section of the Musconetcong River (the border between Morris and Warren Counties and Morris and Sussex Counties west of Stanhope): 40 Canada Geese, 20 Am. Black Ducks, 20 Mallards, 25 Ring-necked Ducks, 15 Bufflehead, 15 Hooded Mergansers, 1 Common Mergansers, 1 Great Blue Heron (Robert Templin).

10 Red-headed Woodpeckers, at least, continue at Troy Meadows on Feb. 2 (Jill Homcy).

This may be of interest to some readers. It may make others cry. The impending weekend storm has the potential to be the worst of the season: See here.

Diversions:

You can view a Burrowing Owl Live Cam courtesy of Birding Adventures at this link.

In case you ever considered purchasing the Squirrel Stopper SQC05 Black Squirrel Stopper Pole and Baffle Set for $149.99, view the Amazon 1-out-of-5-stars reviewer’s video at this link.