Black-necked Stilt, Lincoln Park Gravel Pits, July 28, 2017 (photo by Alan Boyd)

Yesterday, July 28, Roger Johnson made another of his many trips to the Lincoln Park Gravel Pits over the last three-plus decades. The Pits is the most reliable shorebird spot in Morris, depending on water levels and this is the time of year to look.

Not content with the usual Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs, even a Semipalmated Sandpiper is a nice find in Morris, Roger sighted one of the most remarkable species seen in the county in recent memory, and the first in Morris, a Black-necked Stilt.

Fortunately, Roger texted the finding to a local notification network and the word spread from there. Other birders were able to observe it and photograph this rare north New Jersey visitor.

According to the eBird database, the only other Black-necked Stilt records from New Jersey north of Monmouth County, are from the Meadowlands area and DeKorte Park. The Monmouth records include one near Holmdel in 2005 and Wreck Pond in 2003. All other New Jersey records are from Forsythe NWR (“Brig”) and south from there along the coast.

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.

Finis