Caspian Tern at Chimney Rock

A Caspian Tern was seen and photographed flying over Chimney Rock this morning (Jeff Ellerbusch). This is the second flyover Caspian Tern at Chimney Rock in 2014. The first was on May 4. Other species found there today include Least Flycatcher, Blue-winged, Black-and-white, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided and Canada Warblers, Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart.

2 Semipalmated Plovers are at Finderne Wetlands (J. Ellerbusch)

7 Little Blue Herons in Hanover Township

One birder viewing from the north corroborated what another birder saw from the south confirming what a third birder thought he had seen earlier in the week: 7 juvenile Little Blue Herons at Melanie Lane Wetlands this afternoon (J. Klizas, Julie Buechner, Chuck Hantis in that order). As far as is known, this is a record high count for Morris County and undoubtedly more than most observers have seen in one place at one time anywhere other than coastal New Jersey.

The wading bird show continues at Melanie Lane with 4 Great Egrets appearing today, one of them tagged as shown in the photo below. This is probably a Jamaica bay-tagged individual similar to one found at this same location in 2012.

Tagged Great Egret, Melanie Lane, Hanover Twp., NJ, Aug. 18, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Chimney Swift Article

Pete Bacinski wrote an article for NJ.com on Chimney Swifts, mentioning the property near River Road, Raritan that he mentions in this post. The link to Pete’s article at NJ.com is here.