Glaucous Gull at Budd Lake, Mar. 2, 2013

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas
Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).

Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).

(Click on photo for a larger image).

It was a day for gulls in Morris County. Not the magnitude of numbers seen earlier in the week when 4,000 Herring Gulls dominated Budd Lake, but the quality of gulls that appeared in the county today. First, an Iceland Gull was found on Mt. Hope Pond yesterday, March 1, and then seen again today and photographed this morning. This afternoon, Jeff Ellerbusch found a Glaucous Gull near the south beach of Budd Lake. White-winged gulls are rarely recorded in any year in Morris County. To have two species in one day in the county is outstanding and the stuff of birding legends and lore.

The number of geese and gulls has decreased in the past few days at Budd Lake but the number of Herring Gulls is still approximately 1,000+, with 500 Ring-billed Gulls added in as well. At least 15 Great Black-backed Gulls were in the lake. An impressive (for Morris County) 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 adults and 2 young birds, are probably a record for the county unless someone knows of more.

Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).

Glaucous Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).

A young Lesser Black-backed Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas)

A young Lesser Black-backed Gull, Budd Lake, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas)

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Iceland Gull in Rockaway Twp.; Waterfowl at Lake Hopatcong, Mar. 2, 2013

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas
Iceland Gull, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Iceland Gull, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

(Click on the photo for a large image).

I was at Mt. Hope Pond for no more than 30 seconds this morning at 7:00 when the first-winter Iceland Gull reported by Dan Brill on the JerseyBirds listserv yesterday, flew over my head and landed on the ice of the pond. It was eventually joined by 30 Ring-billed Gulls. White-winged gulls of any species are rare in Morris County so it was a special treat to have one so cooperative. It was present for the entire hour that I, Cliff Miles and his son Rick were at the pond – either loafing on the ice, floating in the water or occasionally engaging in a flight around the pond with the Ring-billed Gulls. Mt. Hope Pond is not to be confused with nearby, and much larger, Mt. Hope Lake.

Iceland Gull, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Iceland Gull, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Iceland Gull with Ring-billed Gulls, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Iceland Gull with Ring-billed Gulls, Mt. Hope Pond, Rockaway Township, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

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Mt. Hope Lake thawed this week. The Mute Swans were quick to realize that. 32 Mute Swans were feeding and displaying where there was only one on the frozen lake the week before. 1 Gadwall, 2 American Wigeon, 3 Hooded Mergansers and 1 Common Merganser were the total for waterfowl. It was gratifying to see two Bald Eagles near the nest calling frequently. Their attempt to raise young apparently failed last year. Unless this reporter is missing something, he could swear that this year’s male is a possible 4th year sub-adult. This raises the question: what happened to last year’s full adult male?
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Tundra Swans, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Tundra Swans, Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Mar. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Lake Hopatcong continues to host 6 Tundra Swans. Today, they were north of the Brady Road Bridge, easily viewed from the end of Waterside Drive. Duck numbers remain impressive, as well. The lake is thawing little by little in some spots but most of the lake remains frozen with numerous ice fishermen present. Last weekend the duckage was concentrated south of the bridge. Today, waterfowl was also dispersed on the north side. It is impossible to get a completely accurate count of the Ring-necked Ducks due to limited viewing conditions, but 557 were tallied. This means there are more that would probably equal last weekend’s total of 760. Equally impressive is the growing number of Buffleheads – 116, at least. The drake Canvasback was at the south end of South Lakeside Drive in company with a female Red-breasted Merganser.

Lake Hopatcong is the largest body of freshwater in New Jersey. It has never been a birding destination because the entire lake shore is developed and viewing the lake is difficult if not impossible. What the past few weeks show is that this can also be a very productive waterfowl location. Birders using creativity, common sense, and respect for property owners may find this to be a worthwhile birding locale.

Here are the numbers:

Mute Swan – 58 (many north of the bridge were not counted)
Tundra Swan – 6
American Wigeon – 10
Canvasback – 1 drake
Ring-necked Duck – 557 (with more unseen)
Lesser Scaup – 12 along with 5+ distant Scaup sp.
Bufflehead – 116, at least.
Hooded Merganser – 2
Red-breasted Merganser – 1
Ruddy Duck – 12
Bald Eagle – 2nd-3rd year
Surprisingly few gulls.

Bertrand Island, still one of the few thawed areas of water in Lake Hopatcong, contributed 28 Ring-necked Ducks, 8 Lesser Scaup, 24 Bufflehead and 10 Common Mergansers.

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Rough-legged Hawk in Somerset Co.; field notes, Mar. 1, 2013

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Thom Almendinger found a light morph Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) this morning on Opie Road in Branchburg Township. The latest known record of the Bedminster RLHA (Rattlesnake Bridge Road) is February 25. We are reaching the end of the wintering RLHA season for 2013 and every record is valuable for documenting the departure dates for this species.
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Mike Wolfe found the continuing Lesser Black-backed Gull on Budd Lake this afternoon.
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On the JerseyBirds listserv, Dan Brill reports a first-winter Iceland Gull at Mt. Hope Pond in Rockaway Township.
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Kevin Browne eBirded 2 Red-breasted Merganser drakes from Lake Parsippany. Also recorded were 1 Gadwall, 7 Redheads, 92 Ring-necked Ducks, 17 Lesser Scaup, 6 Hooded Mergansers, 87 Common Mergansers and 12 Ruddy Ducks.
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A partial walk of the towpath at the D&R Canal State Park in Franklin Township showed continuing Common Goldeneye (6),  12 Lesser Scaup,  2 Bufflehead, 10 Common Merganser and 2 Red-breasted Merganser.

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Gulls, Redheads and Redpolls, Feb. 28, 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Gulls continue at Budd Lake in impressive numbers. Herring Gulls decreased slightly from 4,000 to 3,000 although some were streaming in later in the afternoon. The numbers are relative. There seemed to be slightly fewer. 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 30 Great Black-backed Gulls and a throng of 500 Ring-billed Gulls populated the lake. What differed from yesterday was the number of ducks, especially Ring-necked Ducks. 500 were counted where none were on the lake the day before (unless they were hidden by the geese!). Approximately half as many Canada Geese were present today as there were yesterday.

Here are the numbers:
Canada Geese – 4,300
Mute Swan – 3
Am. Black Duck – 12
Mallard – 26
Northern Pintail – 13
Green-winged Teal – 3
Ring-necked Duck – 500
Lesser Scaup – 11
Scaup sp. – 15
Bufflehead – 3
Common Merganser – 175
Ring-billed Gull – 500
Herring Gull – 3,000
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 2
Great Black-backed Gull – 30
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A very quick stop at Lake Parsippany, which is almost entirely thawed, yielded 6 Redheads (4 drakes, 2 hens), 2 Gadwalls, 135 Ring-necked Ducks, 13 Lesser Scaup, 1 Hooded Merganser, 51 Common Mergansers, 1 Ruddy Duck and 2 Am. Coot.
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From Alan Boyd in Roxbury Twp.:
Hi Jonathan – This afternoon I had a flock of about 25 Common Redpolls on Mooney Rd. They were in evergreens around the yard at 199 Mooney. This is a stone’s throw from Mooney Pond where I had them on 1/15.

Alan Boyd

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5,000 Gulls, 8,000 Geese at Budd Lake, Feb. 27, 2013

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas
Budd Lake, late afternoon, looking south, Feb 27 2013 (Photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Budd Lake, late afternoon, looking south, Feb. 27, 2013 (Photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

At 3:30 this afternoon, all air space over Budd Lake in Mt. Olive Township was filled with gulls. 1,000 Gulls would land on the ice at the south end, stay for a few minutes, and then get up en masse creating another flurry of zig-zagging flight patterns and improvised kettles. This pattern was repeated at various sections of the lake at different times by different gulls. It was an astonishing spectacle to witness for an inland lake in Morris County. At the same time, it was overwhelming and fruitless trying to pick out a white-winged gull in this mass. The final tally was a total of nearly 5,000 gulls…at least. Keep in mind my reputation among friends is of being conservative in numbers. Of this total, 4,000 were Herring Gulls, 500 Ring-billed Gulls, 15 Great Black-backed Gulls and only 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. Oh yes, not too forget, there were also at least 8,000 Canada Geese in the lake as well. 1 female Red-breasted Merganser contrasted beautifully with the Common Mergansers in her company. The northern and southern ends of Budd Lake remain frozen. The entire central portion of the lake is mostly thawed.

As shown by this photo, Herring Gulls dominated at Budd Lake, Feb. 27, 2013 (Photo by Jonathan Klizas)

As shown by this photo, Herring Gulls dominated at Budd Lake, Feb. 27, 2013 (Photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Here are the numbers:
Canada Geese – 8,000 – conservative count, birds were still arriving when I left.
Mallard – 15
Lesser Scaup – 35
Bufflehead – 1
Common Merganser – 175
Red-breasted Merganser – 1 female
Ring-billed Gull – 500
Herring Gull – 4,000
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 1
Great Black-backed Gull – 15
American and Fish Crows
Red-winged Blackbird – 1,000 in one fly-by group.
Common Grackle – 1,500 in two fly-by groups.

A stop at Lake Musconetcong, which continues to be mostly frozen, produced another 500 Herring Gulls and 75 Ring-billed Gulls at the southwest end of the lake near Water Street. Gulls were still flying in from Sussex County after sunset. The northeast section near Davis Street had 12 Bufflehead, 4 Lesser Scaup, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 1 Hooded Merganser and 2 Common Merganser.

Posted in Morris County | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

POSTPONED: Witmer Stone Program in Bernardsville, Feb. 28, 2013

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Due to illness, Rick Radis is forced to postpone Thursday’s presentation on Witmer Stone at Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary in Bernardsville, NJ. An announcement will be made when the program is rescheduled. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Pink-footed Goose not found; Greater White-fronted Goose in Lyons, Feb. 26, 2013

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Although searched for late into the afternoon, the Pink-footed Goose of Florham Park was not found or reported today.
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From Jennifer Books:
Today, I went out to the Florham Park location where the Pink-footed Goose was recently spotted, and unfortunately I could not find it. Instead I saw a large flock of Canada Geese, about 15 Ring-necked Ducks, and 2 Killdeer. This was around 10:30 this morning. Wish I could have better news. The ducks were nice to see though.

I decided to check out both the equestrian field at Lord Stirling Stables and the VA hospital in Lyons this afternoon in the hopes of finding at least the Greater White-Fronted Goose again. This time I had more luck for a change. The equestrian field just had Canada Geese in it, but the the VA hospital yielded the Greater White-fronted Goose once again. He or she was best viewed from the main road that runs through the center of the VA hospital, near the entrance that’s on the road that leads to Pleasant Valley Park (sorry, can’t remember the name). While there I scanned several other large flocks of geese at various locations but only saw a lone Killdeer near the golfer’s parking lot. This was around 3 p.m.

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Birding the Raritan along the D&R Towpath in Franklin Twp., Feb. 26, 2013

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Jeff Ellerbusch birded the Delaware and Raritan Towpath in Franklin Township this afternoon. Somerset County does not have any significant bodies of water. This view of the Raritan River offers one of the best opportunities for generating duck numbers in the county. One can enter the towpath from the north near Easton Avenue at the I-287 bridge (Cliff Swallows have nested here the past few years). One can enter from south at the Landing Lane Bridge. Remember that Landing Lane is in Middlesex County. You must walk north along the towpath until you pass the high-rise building on the west side of the canal before you are within Somerset County borders. Of course, this is only a small section of the entire towpath but it has a proven track record for birding.

Here is Jeff’s birding strategy for this area: “If I am going to bike the whole area, I park off of Easton Ave. by the I-287 bridge, but if I am walking, and don’t want to walk the entire path, I park at the lot off of Johnson Dr. (west of Landing Ln. bridge), and walk over the bridge to access the towpath. The latter is closer to the “hotspot”- right as the river bends in a more northward direction. Starting at Foxwood Rd. through about 3/4 miles north-west, if looking at Easton Ave. as a reference point, is where the majority of ducks are. This is always the case…must have something to do with food.”

A map illustrating the area is here. The “hotspot” is represented as a line between two points in the river.

Here are today’s numbers. The Lesser Scaup and Common Goldeneye numbers are all-time Somerset County high counts according to the eBird database:
Canada Goose – 400
Wood Duck – 2
American Wigeon – 2
American Black Duck – 3
Mallard – 12
Ring-necked Duck – 14
Lesser Scaup – 36
Bufflehead – 26
Common Goldeneye – 41
Common Merganser – 33
Red-breasted Merganser – 2

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Witmer Stone program, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 in Bernardsville

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

The public is welcome to the monthly meeting of the Urner Ornithological Club this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 at 7:45 p.m. at the Scherman Hoffman Sanctuary of the New Jersey Audubon Society in Bernardsville, NJ. Rick Radis will be presenting a program on Witmer Stone (1866-1939), one of the great historical figures in North American ornithological history. Among the many works of his illustrious career is Stone’s most famous publication: Bird Studies at Old Cape May from 1938.

Witmer Stone (1866-1939)

Witmer Stone (1866-1939)

Following are links that have information about Stone:
www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1800s/stone_witmer.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witmer_Stone

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Pink-footed Goose reported again from Florham Park; other notes, Feb. 25, 2013

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

From Neil Elman:
I had the Pink-footed Goose at the Florham Park Fields this morning at approximately 11:00 am. It was with Canada Geese on the far shore of the second pond, but a loud truck flushed the group, which did not return.

Lake Parsippany had one Redhead in a group of Ring-necked Ducks, and one separate Common Goldeneye.
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From Tim Vogel:
I did a drive by at Lake Parsippany about 10am today
About 40 Common Mergansers
4 Hooded Mergansers
1 Gadwall
A large number (over 120) of what appeared to be Ring-necked Ducks on the west side. They all took off as I tried to get into better light. Something spooked the ducks and the gulls. Everything was up in the air at the same time. The ducks were never relocated.
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A tagged Ring-billed Gull in Rockaway Township was mentioned in a post from yesterday. The report from the Massachusettes Divison of Water Supply Protection was received today describing the gull. Click the image below for a larger view.

A899 - Tagged Ring-biled Gull Report, Feb. 25, 2013

A899 – Tagged Ring-biled Gull Report, Feb. 25, 2013

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From Marc Chelemer:
Today, February 25th, a visit to Lake Hopatcong at 6:45 AM yielded several Tundra Swans asleep on the ice (viewable from Lakeside Avenue); they were disturbed momentarily and picked up their heads long enough to show the all-black bills and their greyish and stouter necks than the Mute Swans nearby. A drive around to the east side of the lake (Monabb Road) with a peek between houses yielded four MORE Tundra Swans close to that shore. One could even see the yellow spot at the corner of their bills! Also present on the lake were the aforementioned hundreds of Ring-necked Ducks, scattered Bufflehead, Common Mergansers, 1 drake Hooded Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Kingfisher, and an adult Bald Eagle. I did not have my telescope, so was not able to ‘scope for other Aythya species.

[Editor’s note: Is Monabb Road a misspelling? The map shows a McNabb Road on the east shore. I’m not sure that “peeking” between houses is a great idea or beneficial for creating good will between birders and the locals.]

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