Last night’s radar (seen here at the bottom of the post) showed lots of migration action in the north east. Based on the incursion of Savannah Sparrows and other species, many birds put down in the Morris and Somerset county area this morning.

A White-winged Scoter (WWSC) was found at the north end of Boonton Reservoir this afternoon (Julie Buechner). Based on current eBird data, this is the first autumn record in 2014 for WWSC in New Jersey. Numerous sightings are reported farther east from Long Island Sound north to Maine.

White-winged Scoter, Boonton Reservoir, Oct. 3, 2014 (photo by Julie Buechner)

Julie also saw an Eastern Meadowlark at Troy Meadows near the old skeet shoot area on Troy Meadows Rd. this afternoon. This is only the third location record of 2014 for this species in Morris County, a dreary state of affairs for Eastern Meadowlark.

26+ Savannah Sparrows are at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Whippany along with 10+ Palm Warblers and an American Kestrel (J. Klizas). Veterans Park is one of the more reliable locations in Morris County for Vesper and White-crowned Sparrows in autumn as well as Eastern Meadowlark in October, based on records from the past 5 years.