Common Loons, Boonton Reservoir, NJ, May 7, 2016 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)
(Click on the photo for a larger image.)
This week’s weather, consisting mostly of a damp, chilly, easterly-northeasterly air flow, has slowed the migratory push that observers crave this time of year. Nonetheless, birds are everywhere at this time.
41 Common Loons waited out the rain in Boonton Reservoir today. The above photo is a sampling of the loon gathering. Most were in two large groups with singletons and duos resting and feeding in the reservoir north of the island. All but two were in alternate plumage.
Red-headed Woodpeckers continue with 4 at Glenhurst Meadows reported today (Jeff Ellerbusch) and 10 at Troy Meadows (Roger Johnson).
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are everywhere this week with many people reporting them at feeders (including this writer) as well as in the field.
Hermit Thrushes have moved on from most of the Morris/Somerset area. Veerys have moved into their preferred habitats. The mocosocoBirds area’s first Swainson’s Thrush was not reported until early this evening at Jockey Hollow.
One phenomena that the wet, low-pressure, dreary weather can create is large congregations of swallows over lakes and ponds. Migrating Bank Swallows were found in several places amidst the Tree/Barn/Northern Rough-winged Swallow flocks this week. Barn Swallows have arrived in full. Chimney Swifts are finally back in Morristown. A visit to Budd Lake on May 4 produced hundreds of swallows including ~50 Purple Martins.
Cornell Laboratory’s Bird Cast Regional Forecast for the Upper Midwest and Northeast, May 6-13 can be found here.
Analysis of the previous week, April 29-May 6, 2016, is here.
Great Blue Heron, Boonton Reservoir, NJ, May 7, 2016 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)
Bird migration activity is simply too busy at this time to list all reports in this space. To get a more complete picture of what people are reporting, view local checklists in the mocosocoBirdsregion 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.
The mocosocoBirds Facebook page is located here and also posts timely information not found on the mocosocoBirds web site.
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