Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, June 26, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

The return of the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron to Jefferson Road Pond caused the biggest stir this week in Morris County. Thought to be a juvenile at first look, it is a 2nd year bird undergoing a molt (thanks to Julie Buechner’s sharp eyes for pointing this out). This means that it is possibly a returnee from last year when it was a juvenile.

Here is one of the two juveniles at Jefferson Road Pond in 2013. This photo is taken at the exact same location as the one above, on the rocks in between the Jefferson Road bridge and the foot bridge:

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, Sep. 14, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Thanks to all who changed their eBird location to the Jefferson Road hotspot. Please do so if you haven’t yet done so. Here are the instructions on how to accomplish this.

The Summer Tanagers of Lord Stirling Park are last reported on June 21. They were not seen yesterday despite searching. The Yellow-breasted Chats of Lord Stirling Park and the Great Swamp NWR are not reported since June 8 and 14 respectively.

Eastern Wood-Pewee feeding, Lord Stirling Park, June 26, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)