Eastern Meadowlark in Florham Park

On June 1, 2014, Chris Thomas found an Eastern Meadowlark at the Florham Park Fields. The bird stayed for one day.

On May 15, 2015, Chris Thomas found an Eastern Meadowlark at the Florham Park Fields. Some people have the right touch.

Eastern Meadowlark is a species of special concern in New Jersey and is practically absent from Morris County with no known breeding locations any longer. Other than the June 1 sighting last year, the only other reports of Eastern Meadowlark in Morris County in 2014 were April 24 and October 12 in the Great Swamp NWR, October 3 at Troy Meadows and October 19 at Frelighuysen Fields in Harding Twp.

Be aware that since last year, numerous No Trespassing signs and parking barricades are in place at Florham Park Fields, which is private property. That has not deterred anglers from fishing as witnessed this evening.

Least and Acadian Flycatchers at Mahlon Dickerson Reservation

Wood Thrush, Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, NJ, May 15, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Least and Acadian Flycatchers have returned to Mahlon Dickerson Reservation. One Least Flycatcher is in its usual location along the Ogden Mine Railroad Trail. This trail has numerous American Redstarts, Yellow Warblers, Warbling Vireos, two singing Cerulean Warblers, etc.

The Acadian Flycatcher was near the Black Spruce bog, which is labeled The Pine Swamp Trail.

Two Least Flycatchers are also at the Saffin Rock-Rill Area just as they were in 2014. You can hear one of them singing here.

14 species of warblers were observed today including Blackburnian, Magnolia, Canada, Hooded and Cerulian Warblers, Northern Waterthrush, etc.

Spotted Sandpiper, Mahlon Dickerson Reservation, NJ, May 15, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Other Field Notes

Spring migration of 2015 may be categorized as mediocre – at best. Migrants are in short supply. Every hoped for favorable weather condition has flopped. Tomorrow, Saturday, may be the last southerly flow for a while.

13 species of warblers were tallied at Chimney Rock this morning (Jeff Ellerbusch). 15 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 3 Swainson’s Thrushes, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Canada and Blackpoll Warblers are some of the highlights.

Robert Gallucci sent the following two photos taken at Glenhurst Meadows. The first is a genuine Blue-winged Warbler. The second is a “Brewster’s” Warbler (Blue-winged x Golden-winged hybrid).

Blue-winged Warbler, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, May 14, 2015 (photo by Robert Gallucci)

“Brewster’s” Warbler (hybrid), Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, May 14, 2015 (photo by Robert Gallucci)

Tom Ostrand photographed these amorous Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the Great Swamp NWR, May 14.

Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Great Swamp NWR, NJ, May 14 2015 (photo by Tom Ostrand)

These are just some of the reports for today. View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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