From Holly Dunbar:
Both the Ross’s Goose and Greater White-fronted Goose were at the V.A. Medical Center in Lyons today. They were west of Knollcroft Road (main entrance) and could be seen from Valley Road or from the southwest gate entrance to the facility (adjacent to Pleasant Valley Park). I spotted them around 2 p.m.
6 Common Redpolls called as they flew over the old bridge at the north end of Boonton Reservoir this morning. The water is mostly frozen with some open patches near the island (viewed from the south end) where some Canada Geese, Am. Coot and Ring-necked Ducks were barely visible. No gulls were seen.
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Lake Parsippany froze over night. There was not a bird in sight.
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Jamie Glydon located some of the Horned Larks and American Pipits in the corn stubble fields behind the Long Valley Middle School on CR513.
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2 uncommon species for the Raritan River in Hillsborough Township were found today. 2 drake Red-breasted Mergansers were reported from the South Branch near Opie Road’s east bridge. Jeff Ellerbusch later found a Common Loon seen from River Road in the Raritan River in the vicinity of Duke Island Park.
Common Loon, Raritan River, Hillsborough, NJ, Feb. 3, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch).
Red-breasted Mergansers, Raritan River (South Branch), Hillsborough, NJ, Feb. 3, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch)
The Ross’s and Greater White-fronted Geese were together again at the VA Hospital golf course in Lyons. Jamie Glydon reported them this afternoon. The Ross’s Goose has been alternating between the Equestrian fields on Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge and the VA Hospital grounds. It would be interesting to find where these geese roost at night, possibly in the Great Swamp? Has anyone noticed their comings and goings?
Rough-legged Hawk, Bedminster, NJ, Feb. 1, 2013 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch)
Jeff Ellerbusch birded the D&R Towpath in Franklin Township this windy afternoon. The number of Bufflehead more than doubles any other known record in Somerset County (eBird has a high count of 29 in its database). The total for Common Goldeneye is also one of the highest for the county.
Ring-necked Duck – 32
Lesser Scaup – 13
Bufflehead – 73
Common Goldeneye – 27
Common Merganser – 24
Jeff also viewed an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with the multitude of Ring-billed, Herring Gulls and Canada Geese at North Branch Park in Bridgewater Township earlier today.
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As Mike Newlon reported earlier in a comment to a previous post, and as many other people also observed, the Ross’s Goose spent most of today at the equestrian fields on Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge. One lone Horned Lark was also viewed in the field with the Canada Geese.
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The light morph Rough-legged Hawk was seen on Pleasant Plains Road, Great Swamp NWR this afternoon. It was wind-blown as it perched on a tree on the west side of the road near the management area driveway.
The Southwest Morris Winter Count on January 13 was very successful, despite very low visibility all day. We tallied 87 species, our 5th highest count in 29 years. Significant birds included the following:
3rd record – Red-headed Woodpecker (2 in Chester)
4th record – Lapland Longspur (Long Valley) and Virginia Rail (2 in the Musconetcong River marshes)
5th record – American Pipit (60 in Long Valley)
6th record – Lesser Scaup and the now expected Common Raven
8th record – Snow Goose, Pied-billed Grebe and Common Redpoll
10th record – Snow Bunting (Long Valley again)
New high counts were recorded for Snow Goose (10), Belted Kingfisher (14), Red-headed Woodpecker and American Pipit.
On the negative side:
Rusty Blackbird was missed for only the second time, Wilson’s Snipe for the 6th time and both American Wigeon and Gray Catbird for the 9th time.
New low counts for a species that is seen every year are significant since we have had some truly abysmal counts over the years: Mallard came in with only 333, Blue Jay with 57, Black-capped Chickadee with a measly 83 and Northern Mockingbird with only 10.
Next year’s count will be on the third Sunday in January, the 19th. I’m sure it will be the best of all!
Regards,
David Harrison
From Grant Price:
Ross’s Goose is at Lyons VA, but has moved to the far western edge of the grounds. Turn down the lane just to the west of the main entrance, it is about half way down on the right. Very close to the road, really don’t even need optics. Beautiful bird.
I did not see the Greater White-fronted Goose, but the flock is spread across at least five separate locations within the VA, and some birds are not visible.
Finally saw it after several tries, Ross’s was my last possible NJ goose for the year. Quite a strange and wondrous year. I saw Pink-footed Goose, Barnacle, and Greater White Fronted each in multiple different locations before I could find a Ross’s.
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From Jennifer Books:
PLS note, my last name is Books, not Brooks… thanks! [Editor: Pls accept my apologies]
Anyway, late this morning my sister and I checked out the pond at Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morristown and we spotted 16 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Green-wing Teal, 1 Gadwall, and a pair of Wood Ducks. A nice collection to see in a relatively small area.
Barred Owl, Great Swamp NWR, Jan. 29, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).
Click on the photo for a larger image.
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From Jennifer Brooks:
My sister and I saw the Ross’s Goose again over at the VA Hospital in Lyons this afternoon. He was seen with a large flock of Canada Geese to the right of the golf course parking lot.
In addition, we along with several other birders, spotted a Barred Owl in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
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Just as yesterday, thousands of Canada Geese were feeding in the corn stubble at Opie Road in Branchburg this afternooon and further north along River Road and along the corn fields of Studdiford Lane. There are a lot of geese in Somerset County. The Greater White-fronted Goose was missed but that could be because of lack of time to look thoroughly.
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While taking a stroll through Duke Farms today, Jim Mulvey happened upon the Spackling Goose. This bird is hard to miss and has been seen in many parts of Somerset County.
Spackling Goose at Duke Farms, Jan. 29, 2013 (photo by Jim Mulvey).
Here are other posts mentioning the Spackling Goose, or SPGO, as we locals call it.
mocosocobirds.com/2013/01/02/greater-white-fronted-geese-and-the-return-of-the-spackling-goose-jan-2-2013
mocosocobirds.com/2012/01/24/weird-goose-ducks-in-the-dark-jan-24-2012
From Andrew Lucas:
The Greater White-fronted Goose was present at the Lyons VA hospital when I stopped by this afternoon around 3:30. I saw reports that there was a Ross’s goose present in the morning but I can only confirm there is a white goose that seems a bit smaller and more compact than the Canada’s in with the flock, but it was foggy, the goose was distant and I didn’t have a scope. There was no way I could confidently separate it from a Snow Goose given these limitations.
Editor’s note: Zack Batren eBirded a Ross’s Goose from the VA Hospital in the afternoon, so, Andrew, your little white goose is probably the Ross’s. Here is a link to a brief video Zack took of the Ross’s Goose.
Jeff says that, based on unique markings, this represents the third separate Greater White-fronted Goose in 2013 and the sixth(!) for the Fall/Winter season in Somerset County.
Eastern Screech-Owl, Pyramid Mountain, NJ, Jan. 27, 2013 (Photo by Terry Carruthers)
Today, Terry Carruthers captured the above image of an Eastern Screech-Owl at Pyramid Mountain in Montville Township/Kinnelon.
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What may be one of the most photographed Rough-legged Hawks in digital photography history continues on Pleasant Plains Road, Great Swamp NWR. Jim Mulvey had two Rough-legged Hawks there this morning.
Rough-legged Hawk, Great Swamp NWR, Jan. 27, 2013 (Photo by Jim Mulvey).
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From Ken Hart 12:45 p.m.:
Just had an adult Bald Eagle riding thermals over the Robert H. Stahl Natural Area in Bedminster. The bird was drifting southeast.
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An interesting eBird submission was made by Chris Remillard today from the Rockaway River in the area of the “Sparrow Fields” of the Tourne County Park: a Common Goldeneye, the first report in Morris County in 2012.
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A drive to the fields behind the Long Valley Middle School on West Mill Road (where two weeks ago Horned Larks, American Pipits, Lapland Longspurs and a Snow Bunting were present) yielded the following: two motor vehicles parked on the south edge of the field and two Homo sapiens with funny orange hats making lots of noise with shotguns. So much for that.
Budd Lake is frozen. A tiny sliver of open water on the difficult-to-view west shore was choked with Canada Geese and a handful of Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. There were LOTS of ice boats sailing on the lake. So much for finding a congregation of gulls.
mocosocoBirds 