Black-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, July 3, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

The Night-Herons of Parsippany are the main attraction in Morris County. Both the Yellow and Black-crowned Night-Herons are near the bridges at Jefferson Road Pond. Finding enough Crayfish and other food to satiate them (two Black-crowned Night-Herons spent the entire spring at the pond), these birds may stay into October as did 2013’s Night-Herons.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, July 3, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

A Yellow-breasted Chat and Acadian Flycatcher continue in the Great Swamp along White Bridge Road (Simon Lane).

A pair of singing Kentucky Warblers is present in Long Valley (Alison Goesling).

The Summer Tanagers of Lord Stirling Park appear to be officially gone as they have not been positively reported since June 21 despite several attempts at finding them. A nest was built but abandoned.

Swallow numbers are growing. Be careful with identification especially Tree and Bank Swallows. Traditionally, Bank Swallows do not nest anywhere in Somerset County or southern Morris County (based on the NJ Breeding Bird Atlas data of the 1990s and current knowledge). Conversely, Bank Swallows are early fall migrants, “…with a peak from mid-July to Mid-August” (The Birds of New Jersey: Status and Distribution, William J. Boyle, Jr. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011).