A Ross’s Goose was found today at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater and has been viewed already by birders in the area. It is there at the moment this is being written (12:48 p.m.). The Ross’s is easily seen from Old York Road. This continues a remarkable string of goose sightings in Somerset County this year. Incidentally, today’s Ross’s Goose is not a Somerset County first. There is a record from Duke Farms that precedes it.
Submitted by Jonathan Klizas
The Barnacle Goose reported yesterday was not seen this afternoon, Sunday, 12-4-2011. The area near The Raritan Inn on County Road 513 was searched but all that was found were a smattering of Canada Geese and the white-faced-black-capped-orange-legged-Canada-bodied hybrid. The few geese seen were on or about the South Branch of the Raritan or a tributary. This location is of interest for mocosocoBirds because it is the border between Morris and Hunterdon Counties. There are no accepted records of Barnacle Goose for Morris County so you can guess why this writer was there for the third time in the last few weeks. Another report of Barnacle Goose from Middle Valley on eBird in the previous month went unconfirmed.
The White-winged Scoter and Red-breasted Merganser found at Budd Lake by Tom Halliwell yesterday were not seen this afternoon. A Common Loon and Common Merganser were present. What was interesting as well as visually overwhelming for a Morris County body of water were the 860+ gulls that were loafing on the lake. Most were in the center of Budd Lake which meant that viewing was distant and difficult. Also, most of the gulls had their heads tucked in and were resting as well as crowded which made identification a challenge. Nothing unusual but 16 Great Black-backed and at least 50 Herring are high counts this year for the county. The rest were mostly Ring-billed Gulls but an even greater number of Herring Gulls cannot be dismissed either. No white-winged or Lesser Black-backed Gulls were obvious.
Submitted by Jonathan Klizas.
From Tom Halliwell:
Hi Jon,
On Budd Lake mid-afternoon today (Saturday) there was a White-winged Scoter and a Red-breasted Merganser as well as a Common Loon.
All the best,
Tom Halliwell
From Jody Hey:
I spent a couple hours this morning (and managed to flood my boots)
Here is the list. Highlights include Lincoln’s Sparrow, Purple Finch and Northern Shoveler.
Canada goose 100+
northern shoveler
mallard 10+
wood duck 4+
great blue heron
red tailed hawk 2
red-bellied woodpecker ~10
American crow 20+
blue-jay 50+
tufted titmouse 3
black-capped chicadee
white-breasted nuthatch 2
robin 5
eastern bluebird 2
northern mockingbird
yellow-rumped warbler 3
song sparrow ~15
swamp sparrow 6
field sparrow 3
tree sparrow 4
white-throated sparrow ~10
savannah sparrow
lincoln’s sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco ~15
cardinal ~10
purple finch
Jody Hey
The lists and their contact information are below. This is taken from the list Laurie Larson published on the JerseyBirds mailing list 12-2-2011.
PLEASE NOTE: the original list published on JerseyBirds on 12/2 has an incorrect day and date of Saturday 12/31 for the Somerset County CBC. The correct date is listed below.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Great Swamp / Watchung Ridges Christmas Bird Count
Pete Axelrod
petera.axelrod at gmail dot com
908-347-2308
Monday, December 26, 2011
Boonton Christmas Bird Count
Rick Radis
973-586-0945
isotria at verizon dot net
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Somerset County Christmas Bird Count
Chris Aquila
908-687-4500
908-218-0627
caquila at yahoo dot com
The Greater White-fronted Goose (GWFG) found yesterday by Jeff Ellerbusch was joined today by a juvenile Brant at Schoolhouse Rd. in Franklin Township at approximately 2:30 this afternoon. The geese were view-able from the shoulder of Schoolhouse Rd. west of the corner of Randolph Rd.
Here are two smart phone photos from Jeff:
From Tim Vogel:
Unfortunately yesterday’s traffic prevented me from driving by. I would love to have seen the scoter.
December 2, 2011
Common Loon 1
Hooded Merganser 4
Common Merganser 5
Ruddy Duck 3
Both Jamie Glydon and Mike Wolfe also reported seeing the Common Loon this morning but yesterday’s White-winged Scoter was not found.
This is the second record of White-winged Scoter in Morris County in 2011. On April 23, 4 were seen (2 drakes, 2 hens) on Lake Musconetcong by Tom Halliwell and Jonathan Klizas.
Note: The List of the Birds of Morris County has some updates courtesy of more records furnished by David Harrison. The species count is adjusted to 311.
Jeff Ellerbusch found a probable second Somerset County Greater White-fronted Goose (GWFG) today on Schoolhouse Road in Franklin Township early this afternoon. The other GWFG was seen this morning at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater where it has been present off and on since Sunday, November 27. Two Cackling Geese were also at Schoolhouse Rd. The area is a plowed field where late Wednesday afternoon over 2000 Canada Geese were gathering. The field is at the corner of Randolph Road and Schoolhouse Road, the Somerset Sandhill Crane locale from previous years. Here is the location: 40.528934,-74.55932 It was noticed that if you copy and paste the coordinates into a browser the location icon is placed south of Schoolhouse Rd. The field is north of the road.
Submitted by Jonathan Klizas.
From Tom Halliwell:
There was a very actively feeding Red-throated Loon on Lake Musconetcong at 11:00 this morning (Thursday).
All the best,
Tom Halliwell
Note: This is the only Red-throated Loon reported from Morris County in 2011. (J. Klizas)
Jamie Glydon found a male White-winged Scoter this morning on Lake Parsippany. It was still there when he left at 7:25.
mocosocoBirds 