mocosocoBirds

From Jeff Ellerbusch:

This afternoon I went to check on the Cliff Swallow nest on the 287 bridge over the Raritan in Franklin Twp (see the 6/25 post). The nest on the north side of the bridge, the previously active one, was inactive…however the previously empty nest on the south side of the bridge was very active. The pair was constantly in and out of the south side nest- one of them would sit in the nest while the other would occasionally come in to feed it, every once in a while the birds would both go in the nest for a minute or two. The only conclusion I could come up with is that the pair is in the process of making a second brood, which this time will be in the south nest. Every so often a juvenile from the first brood would accompany an adult to the nest and try to get in but would immediately get kicked out, it would then cling to the side of the bridge and wait for an adult to fly off at which point it would follow. The adults paid the juvenile no attention… harsh.

The only practical way to see the south side nest is to park at the lot off Easton Ave and walk the very short walk to the bridge on the towpath (Google Maps) 40.540441,-74.514105

Jeff

From Jeff Ellerbusch:

This morning at Finderne Wetlands there was a pair of Blue Grosbeak on the eastern most portion of the trail loop. While there was no sign that they were already nesting there were signs that they may well do so. The male was constantly chipping from atop and within 1 of 4 trees that were all within 50 feet of each other while the female, also chipping, was busy in the grass occasionally popping up with grass in her beak… hopefully they’re in the process of building a nest. At one point a second male flew into the area and was immediately chased off across the field by the first male. After a few minutes a male, more than likely the first, came back to it’s trees and continued it’s endless chipping. Other than when the male chased off the intruder the pair was always in close proximity with each other. I didn’t get a good look at the second male, other than it’s back as it was being chased off, so i’m not completely sure if it was an adult- I had a first year male here on the 13th of June. Exact location (Google maps) 40.553689,-74.58778 (green arrow)

While I have no previous years experience to draw from, it seems that this is a good Late Spring/Summer for Blue Grosbeak in Somerset County…

– 6/10- adult male on East Mountain Rd, Montgomery Twp
– 6/13- 1st year male at Finderne
– 6/14-15- adult male at Negri-Nepote
– 6/25- adult male on River Rd, Hillsborough Twp
– 7/5- adult male on Beekman Ln, Hillsborough Twp
– 7/11- 1 pair plus another male at Finderne

also via ebird…

– 5/14- 3 at Griggstown Grasslands
– 5/21- x at Fairview Farm
– 6/19 – 7/6- various ebird reports of 1-3 birds at Negri-Nepote

Jeff

From Ben Barkley:

Hi all,

Today over my house in Basking Ridge I had a flock of 5 Common Ravens circling in an unusual kettle like formation. I have never seen Ravens act in this manner before, so it was very interesting to witness.

Frank Sencher, Jr. reports a Blue Grosbeak singing on Beekman Lane, just south of Valis Road in Hillsborough, July 5, 2011.

From Jeff Ellerbusch:

Now that it’s out there here’s a recap of the Glenhurst Prothonotary Warblers…

On June 1st there was a very actively singing male Prothonotary- at the largest, back pond of Glenhurst- which was clearly acting as if on territory. I am very attached to and protective of all things Glenhurst, it’s where it all started for me, and since this bird was so obviously setting up a territory I told only a few locals. This was an easy decision seeing as if anyone really wanted a local or in County Protho they could simply go to Lord Stirling and see and hear the multiple birds there… and not disturb my “precious”- Gollum’s voice- Glenhurst protho. In the next few weeks the Glenhurst bird could be heard and seen each time I and the few others went back to see it, the chances of it finding a mate were admittedly slim but the Lord Stirling succeses left some hope so the sightings were kept pretty quiet. On June 13th, while looking for Mike Newlon’s White-eyed Vireo, I stumbled upon an adult female type Prothonotary on the Brookside trail- I’m not sure what a 1st year male would look like at this stage so I didn’t rule it out, the bird looked like every other adult female I’ve seen. The bird was very, very actively feeding but in the 5 minutes I watched it consumed every insect it caught, no signs of nesting behavior… being pressed for time I had to leave it. Now I haven’t been back since but a male and female at Glenhurst at the same time would suggest breeding but since I haven’t put in the effort I can’t prove it.

I may be being a bit over protective of my local patch but it would be nice to have Prothos breeding here so if going in to see them please do not disturb them!

On a related, and belated note, Mike Hiotis had an adult Little Blue Heron on the morning of the 3rd while looking for and getting the Prothonotary. I tried for it in the afternoon but could not refind it, don’t believe it was seen again… a darn good bird for Glenhurst and the area.

Jeff

From Mike Newlon:

The bird first located by Jeff Ellerbush was singing intermittently along the brook this morning, near the first bridge.

From Mike Newlon:

One singing male; most reliable perch was atop a clump of small trees by a telephone pole, near the farmhouse.
Several Grasshopper sparrows but none singing much; one was feeding young.

michaelnewlon at comcast dot net

From Jeff Ellerbusch:

This afternoon I decided to bike the D & R Canal towpath that runs between the Raritan River and the Canal, Franklin Twp. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now but haven’t gotten around to it. The main goal was to get Cliff Swallow for Somerset County. I accessed the trail from Landing Lane Bridge…from every map I’ve looked at of Somerset County the southern limit, as far as the River and Canal goes, starts shortly north of Landing Lane Bridge and continues north sharing the river with Middlesex County. At the 287 Bridge (map coordinates of everything below) there were two Cliff Swallow nests, one on the south side of the bridge- inactive as far as I saw, and an active nest on the north side of the bridge. There are Barn Swallows nesting under the bridge but the Cliff nests are on the side and very obvious. If very particular the nest looked to be slightly into the Middlesex portion of the river, if splitting the river in half for county sake. The Swallow pair was very actively catching bugs on both sides of the river to bring back to the nest and were easily Somerset County as well as Middlesex birds.

There are two much easier ways to view the nest besides taking the long bike ride- the first is to park at Bakelite Park, Middlesex County, and walk to the riverbank and view the 287 bridge from there. The other option would be to park at a lot off Easton Ave, Somerset County (map below), cross the canal and walk the 200 or so feet south to the bridge. The Easton Ave parkinglot option will allow you to also view the probably inactive nest, no activity in the 20 min. I was in the area, on the south side of the bridge.

(Google Maps)

Somerset County line…give or take a few yards- 40.508791,-74.467199
Active nest- 40.539907,-74.511724
Inactive nest- 40.539634,-74.511262
Bakelite Park- 40.541501,-74.510972
Easton Ave Parking- 40.540441,-74.514105

All spots are marked with green arrow, ignore the red A marker.

Jeff