Palm Warbler, Troy Meadows, NJ, Sep. 26, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)
(Click on the photo for a larger image.)
Palm Warblers, Lincoln Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows are becoming more prevalent and are noticeable because not much else is happening in mocosococoBirdland this season. Warbler flights are thin and not much thicker for hawk flights.
Broad-winged Hawk numbers are far below average this year at the Morris and Somerset hawk watching sites of Wildcat Ridge and Chimney Rock.
On Sep. 26, Troy Meadows had two Lincoln’s Sparrows in the fields at the south end accessed via the South Beverwyck Road kiosk parking area. The Patriots Path trails in this area are nicely mowed creating a wide, easily navigable path. This is good because much of the Meadows’ vegetation is impenetrable this year.
Tim Vogel at The Tourne, Sep. 26:
Red shouldered Hawk – calling from woods
1 American Pipit – flyover
Palm Warbler
Mitch Van Beekum took the following photos at Lake Hopatcong near the Brady Road bridge on Sep. 25.
Hooded Merganser, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Sep. 25, 2015 (photo by Mitch Van Beekum)
American Coot, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Sep. 25, 2015 (photo by Mitch Van Beekum)
New Longevity Record for North American Herring Gull
The next item is out of the immediate region but noteworthy enough to include here. Amar Ayyash is a gull aficionado from the midwest and has an interesting web site at Anything Larus. He is also a frequent contributor to the North American Gulls group on Facebook.
This past week, Amar photographed a banded Herring Gull at the south end of Lake Michigan. After submitting the band information, he was informed that the gull was banded in 1986 and is 29 years and 3 months old establishing a new longevity record for the species. Amar retells the account here.
Super Blood Moon Eclipse Tonight
If you read this in time and are not already aware, there is a full eclipse of the super moon tonight. Read about it at Earth and Sky.
View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:
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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