Orange-crowned Warbler, Troy Meadows, Morris Co., NJ, Oct. 4, 2018 (photo by Warren Van Varick)

(Click on the photo for a larger image)

An Orange-crowned Warbler has been captured in beautiful photographs by Warren Van Varick on Oct. 4 and Dave Blinder on Oct. 23. Both sightings were found near the same area of Patriots Path at the southern end of Troy Meadows, accessed near the power and gas lines along South Beverwyck Rd. The Orange-crowned Warbler was usually seen along Patriots Path between the gravel parking lot and the gas line (see the South Beverwyck Road entry on the Troy Meadows map). Roger Johnson saw the bird in a similar area on October 10.

Orange-crowned Warbler, Troy Meadows, Morris Co., NJ, Oct. 23, 2018 (photo by Dave Blinder)

This writer saw it on the afternoon of October 25 after Warren photographed an Orange-crowned Warbler (OCWA) along the power-line in the morning. An OCWA was seen in the same area on Oct. 28 and Nov. 1 by Alex Bernzweig and Rob Fanning respectively.

Orange-crowned Warbler sightings in the Morris area are annual in autumn but not common. Are these coincidental sightings of different Orange-crowned Warblers by numerous people in a similar location? Or the same individual liking a certain area and hanging around for a month? The latter idea is reasonable although long staying Orange-crowned Warblers are rare in the Morris area. Cape May and points south are more likely.

Commemorative Ceremony for Robert L. Perkins, founder of Wildlife Preserves, Inc.

Perkins plaque, Troy Meadows, Oct. 27, 2018

You may not be familiar with the name, but Bob Perkins (1927-2017) is the reason we have Troy Meadows in Morris Co. and Great Piece Meadows in Essex and Morris Counties. On October 27, 2018, Wildlife Preserves hosted a ceremony commemorating a memorial plaque in honor of Bob Perkins at Troy Meadows. Dave Blinder wrote a blog post about the event. You can read that here. To find out more about this forward-thinking conservationist, read the interview conducted by An American River author Mary Bruno, here.

Landscapes of New Jersey at Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Frequent mocosocoBirds contributor and peripatetic New Jersey nature photographer, conservationist, and Wildlife Preserves Land Steward, Dave Blinder, has a showing of his photographs in the Haggerty Education Center of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum entitled Landscapes of New Jersey in Morris Township during the month of November. The show’s opening is Saturday, November 10, 2 PM to 3:15 PM. Dave has a blog post about the exhibit, here.

83rd Annual Boonton Christmas Bird Count, Sunday, December 23, 2018

A post about the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will be published shortly. Meanwhile, anyone interested in participating for a part of the day, a full day or just feeder watching, can contact the compiler at boontoncbc@gmail.com.

Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Approach to Identification by Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson

A new field guide is available or about to be released. Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson have teamed up for Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Approach to Identification published by Princeton University Press. Amazon has it available Nov. 13. Both authors talk about their new venture on BirdCallsRadio episode #144.

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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