Townsend’s Warbler, Duke Farms, Somerset Co., NJ, Dec. 12, 2016 (Photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Bruce McWhorter found Somerset County’s first record of Townsend’s Warbler (TOWA) this morning at Duke Farms, Hillsborough Township. The TOWA continued to be seen by many observers throughout the day, although much time and patience was necessary.

The following link is a map created by Jeff Ellerbusch which gives an accurate location of where the TOWA was seen in the late morning and afternoon: Townsend’s Warbler location at Duke Farms. Be aware that the TOWA was also seen in the parking lot of the Orientation Center in the morning and at other locations in the general area.

Duke Farms is closed on Wednesdays.

An Orange-crowned Warbler, Baltimore Oriole, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Merlin as well as many other local species are also in the immediate area. The eBird reviewer for Somerset County asks that all Chickadees be listed as Carolina/Black-capped. Do not attempt to narrow them to exact species. This area is part of the epicenter of Chickadee identification confusion.

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.

The mocosocoBirds Facebook page is located here and also posts timely information not found on the mocosocoBirds web site.

@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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