mocosocoBirds

Black-bellied Plovers, Hillsborough Twp., NJ, May 8, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).

Somerset County

The rainstorm helped to ground some birds today.

Negri-Nepote Grassland Preserve, Franklin Township (Zach Batren, Jeff Ellerbusch)

2 Killdeer
8 Greater Yellowlegs
5 Lesser Yellowlegs
73 Least Sandpipers
2 Dunlin
7 Grasshopper Sparrows
Blue Grosbeak

Opie Road in Branchburgh and Hillsborough Twps. (Jeff Ellerbusch)
3 Black-bellied Plovers
1 Dunlin
19 Least Sandpipers
3 Bobolinks

Morris County

• 5 Common Loons were at Boonton Reservoir.
• The Melanie Lane Wetlands in Hanover Twp. are flooded.
• Veerys were numerous in the Great Swamp this morning. No new migrants were observed.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday are shaping up as the migration days we are waiting for.

White-eyed Vireo, Six Mile Run, Franklin Township, NJ, May 6, 2013
(photo by Zach Batren)

The Jacques Lane access to Six Mile Run, Franklin Township continues to be a hot spot for White-eyed Vireos and Prairie Warblers. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Scarlet Tanager add to the list (Zach Batren).

3 Bobolinks were near the headquarters on Pleasant Plains Road in the Great Swamp NWR, early this evening (Simon Lane).

Holly Dunbar eBirded a White-eyed Vireo from Pleasant Plains Rd. Both the White-eyed Vireo and the Bobolinks are firsts in 2013 for Morris County.

From Ken Hart:
Orchard Orioles were present at the Robert J. Stahl Natural Area in Bedminster late this afternoon– and a lot of dog ticks. No repairs have been done to the fallen Martin gourds, or the Wood Duck box laying down in one of the ponds.

From Leslie Webster:
Wood Thrushes have finally arrived in Loantaka Brook Reservation! Well, one, anyway. The Gray Catbird population is increasing. Three were establishing territory on the west end of Kitchell Pond. Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows were flying low this morning. I’ve not seen any Northern Rough-winged Swallows for the past couple of weeks.

Snowy Egret at Duke Farms

From Thom Almendinger:
Snowy Egret this morning at Duke Farms on mudflats across from main driveway to Farm Barn. It was with 2 Great Egrets.
[Editor’s Note: The Snowy Egret and the Great Egrets were not located in the afternoon. Snowy Egret is a rare visitor to both Somerset and Morris Counties.]

Field Notes

A Wilson’s Warbler was found at Melanie Lane Wetlands this morning (Jamie Glydon). Great Egrets continue to use the wetlands with 4 present today. The only shorebirds were 5 Least Sandpipers and the resident Killdeer.

The Highlands in Morris County have an increase in Great Crested Flycatchers, Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, and American Redstarts. Ovenbirds are abundant. Pine Warblers are in appropriate habitat. The heronry at Deerhaven Lake in the Newark Watershed in Jefferson Twp., has at least 8 Great Blue Herons visible from the Green Pond Road side of the marsh. Some nesting trees were lost to Sandy in October 2012. A full view of the heronry requires a hike and some mild bushwhacking on the east or southeast portion of the marsh.

From Leslie Webster:
Newly noted in Loantaka Brook Reservation this morning: at Kitchell Pond, 1 Eastern Kingbird and 2 additional Baltimore Orioles, making three altogether (2 males and 1 female); in the woods, 1 Great Crested Flycatcher and 1 Ovenbird. Not one migrating tree top warbler or any thrushes other than the American Robin. The Louisiana Waterthrush continues, as does the Common Yellowthroat.

From Margo D. Beller:
Website: backyardbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com
Hi, Jonathan. In 15 years of birding this is the worst year for finding migrants, particularly warblers, I’ve ever experienced. I thought it was just me, but your weather map and your comments show even more experienced birders are having the same problem. My first “good” day was April 27, when I found many warblers (including the American Redstart I reported to you) very early that day at Great Swamp.

To me it feels like I am far behind. For instance, I’ve yet to find a Baltimore Oriole, although I found an Orchard Oriole yesterday at the Frelingheuysen Arboreum (and a late junco). Usually I find the Baltimores ahead of the Orchard. Strange times.

I envy your Wildcat Ridge report of May 4. The previous Sunday, April 28, my husband and I and other members of the Land Conservancy of NJ hiked up there (and saw the tower as well as the “Scar on the Mountain,” as we call the apartment building built on Watnong Mountain in Parsippany). I heard very few birds. Towards the end of the hike down, past the beaver pond, I heard a Hooded Warbler, but by that time we were so exhausted from trying to keep up with Executive Director Dave Epstein I couldn’t go back to investigate further. We’ll have to try the ridge again some other time. – Margo

Forecast

The latest weather forecast for north New Jersey does not show an improvement in wind direction. Easterly winds through Wednesday with a shift to north and then northwest winds towards the end of the week. Rains showers are a distinct possibility during the week. Winds will be light so birds should be moving into our area nonetheless. Birdcast.info has a forecast for the week which can be viewed here.

Tom Auer’s blog which covers the northeast exclusively can be read here.

As every birder in New Jersey and the northeast knows, spring migration in 2013 is becoming one for the books and not a very positive book at that. Check the various bird migration forecasting web sites and radars and the picture remains the same: the northeast is in an easterly cycle of weather. Breeding birds are slowly trickling in but the northern migrants are keeping west of the northeast. It is eerie.

It is May 3. Look at the screen shot of the eBird Range Map depicting all of the reports for Swainson’s Thrush as of May 3, 2013. The mid-west is well represented. This species should be coming into our region now. As of today, there is not one report from New Jersey, New York and all of New England. None.

Swainson’s Thrush reports on eBird as of May 3, 2013

(Click on the image for a larger version.)

The long-range forecast on various Internet weather sites is for a continuation of this cycle until next weekend, with a southern flow of air possible in time for the World Series of Birding on May 11.

mocosocoBirds is interested if anyone can remember similar weather patterns affecting migration in New Jersey in the past. Please send any remembrances via the Bird Reporter.

Egrets in the Mist

Great Egrets in the Mist, Hanover Twp., NJ, May 2, 2013 (photo by Jonathan Klizas).

(Click on the photo for a larger image)

Eastern Whip-poor-will in Franklin Twp.

Andrew Lucas reports an Eastern Whip-poor-will calling in Franklin Township this morning at 5:00 a.m. It was close to his house in a mature Oak forest near Bunker Hill Golf Course. It called again at 8:15 p.m. for 2-3 minutes witnessed by a small party of birders. Whip-poor-wills must certainly pass through Somerset County in migration but documentation of this species is scant at best. In fact, unless someone knows otherwise, this is the first known record in Somerset County in the 21st century. The last documented reports are from Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary in Bernardsville in April and October of either 1995 or 1997. There is a mention in the New Jersey breeding bird atlas published in 1999 (Birds of New Jersey by J. Walsh, V. Elia, R. Kane and T. Halliwell – N.J. Audubon Society) of Whip-poor-will possiblly breeding in Franklin Township.

Other Field Notes

10 Great Egrets were at Melanie Lane Wetlands, Hanover Twp. at dawn this morning. 7 flew in as a squadron. The pond was misty. The only shorebirds were 2 Greater Yellowlegs and the usual Killdeer and Wilson’s Snipe.

7 Purple Finches and 6 Pine Siskins continue at a private feeder in Warren Township.

Chris Duffek took the following photographs today of a White-eyed Vireo and a Prairie Warbler at Jacques Lane, Six Mile Run, Franklin Township.

White-eyed Vireo, Franklin Twp., May 2, 2013 (photo by Chris Duffek).

Prairie Warbler, Franklin Twp., May 2, 2013 (photo by Chris Duffek).

From Leslie Webster:
Newly noted this morning in an otherwise static bird tally in Loantaka Brook Reservation woods were 1 Scarlet Tanager and 1 Common Yellowthroat. The Brown Thrasher continues to sing on the west side of Loantaka Way (a Northern Mockingbird was singing on the east side) and a Louisiana Waterthrush continues to sing in the woods.

Great Egret in the Mist, Hanover Twp., NJ, May 2, 2013 (photo by Jonathan Klizas).

Osprey, Melanie Lane Wetlands, NJ, Apr. 28, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

The first Yellow-billed Cuckoo reported in the entire state of New Jersey (according to eBird data) was found at Six Mile Run in Franklin Township this afternoon (Jeff Ellerbusch, Zach Batren). The end of April is the early end of the YBCU migration time-line in New Jersey.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Franklin Twp., Apr. 29, 2013 (photo by Jeff Elllerbusch)

From Alan Boyd at Lake Musconetcong:
Hi Jonathan – A hen Red-breasted Merganser that has been around for a week or so was still there this afternoon, visible from Koclas Drive near the baseball field – Alan Boyd

The Prothonotary Warbler at Lord Stirling Park was near the East Observation Tower along the Passaic River this morning.

Late reports from yesterday (Sunday)

2 alternate plumaged Common Loons were at Lake Parsippany (Jamie Glydon).

From Leslie Webster:
Joining all the American Goldfinches (what a din!) and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the Loantaka Brook Reservation woods, were a few Black-throated Blue Warblers, Northern Parulas, and Myrtle Warblers. At one point on the path, I could hear two Louisiana Waterthrushes singing from opposite directions. At Kitchell Pond, a Warbling Vireo had arrived. Gray Catbirds continue to increase in number.

Gallery

Below is a photo from Dorothy Smullen. This is one of an interesting series of images involving two Broad-winged Hawks on River Road, Millington on April 26. Click on the photos for a larger image.

Broad-winged Hawks, Millington, NJ, Apr. 26, 2013 (photo by Dorothy Smullen)

Here are more photos taken yesterday at Melanie Lane Wetlands by Chuck Hantis.

Great Egret, Melanie Lane Wetlands, NJ, Apr. 28, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Osprey, Melanie Lane Wetlands, NJ, Apr. 28, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).