mocosocoBirds

Western Kingbird, Hanover Twp., NJ, Sep. 13, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

A Western Kingbird appeared at Veterans Memorial Park in Whippany, Hanover Twp. this morning and is present as this is being written. The Kingbird favors the Patriots Path post markers near the power line.

Park in the baseball field lot on Papermill Drive. Walk around the hurricane fence to the dirt road under the power line. After a short distance you will see bare dirt that intersects with Patriots Path. The Western Kingbird is in this area. It often goes to the ground eventually returning to the post. Earlier it flew to various snags along Malapardis Brook but eventually returned to the post.

This is the first Western Kingbird reported in Morris County since the Boonton Christmas Bird Count in December 2003.

Veterans Memorial Park is an excellent location in the late summer and fall. Vesper, White-crowned and Savannah Sparrows are annual. Eastern Meadowlarks are nearly annual in October. Migrants are found near the dip by Malapardis Brook. The link for the eBird hotspot is here.

Bee Meadow Park, known for Morris County’s only Say’s Phoebe in 2011, is nearby. The Whippany, Hanover Twp. area may look unassuming but has many nooks and crannies worth exploring. A guy named Dunne grew up here. His first name is Pete.

View local eBird†checklists in the†mocosocoBirds region via†eBirdís†Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is†another†communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest†tweets†appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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Lincoln’s Sparrow, Morris Twp., NJ, Sep. 12, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

The old Sayre’s Farm in Washington Valley, Morris Township had the first Lincoln’s Sparrow of the season along with Swainson’s Thrush and a meager amount of other migrants. So far, the fall migration is as underwhelming as the spring migration was. The Lincoln’s Sparrow is actually the first report in New Jersey and the surrounding region this season, according to eBird data.

A continuing White-eyed Vireo was singing along the west path of the Moody Farm in Morris Twp.

Swainson’s Thrush, Morris Twp., NJ, Sep. 12, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

9 warbler species, including Cape May and Tennessee Warblers, along with Swainson’s Thrush were at Chimney Rock this morning (Jeff Ellerbusch, Simon Lane).

An immature Little Blue Heron was at Colonial Park, Sept. 11 (Mike Russell). This is only the second record for Somerset County in 2015. There are none for Morris.

A juvenile Purple Finch visited a feeder in Hillsborough, Sept. 11 (Bobby Skrabal).

Mt. Hope Lake, Rockaway Twp. Sep. 11 (Dan Brill): 2 Bald Eagles, 2 Blue-winged Teal, 3 Great Egrets.

On Sept. 7, both a Philadelphia Vireo and Red-headed Woodpecker were seen and photographed at the East Observation Tower at Lord Stirling Park (Jason Denesevich).

Red-headed Woodpecker, Lord Stirling Park, NJ, Sep. 7, 2015 (photo by Jason Denesevich)

The End of the Selody Plover Story

Labor Day weekend saw a surge of excitement over a possible Pacific Golden-Plover at Selody Sod Farm in Montgomery Twp.

Put it to rest.

The shorebird in question is a juvenile American Golden-Plover. Photos were examined.  Kevin Karlson also viewed photos and was adamant about the correct identification. Situations like these are always educational and birders should take away the learning experience with a positive outlook.

mocosocoBirds in the future

Some readers may have noticed a drop in the number of mocosocoBirds posts recently. mocosocoBirds is not going away, but the frequency of posting is changing. The blog is always evolving as those who have followed it for four-and-a-half years and 1,812 posts may notice. It will probably happen that posts are reduced to one or two a week, or less, in the future.  The author has many interests that need attention and there are only so many hours in the day.

Keep birding! And keep reporting!

Hopefully, we will meet in the field.

Jonathan Klizas

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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A Pluvialis species some observers think could be a Pacific Golden-Plover is reported from Selody Sod Farm the past two days. See the eBird Somerset County Rare Bird Alert for details. The photos viewed this afternoon are inconclusive and offer no insight into the validity of the report.

Only one record of this species is on the accepted records list for New Jersey.  Updates, if necessary, will be posted on the mocosocoBirds twitter account, @mocosocoBirds and Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MocosocoBirds as they become available.

No plovers were seen at Selody this afternoon but 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers were viewed at the hazy sod farm (Jeff Ellerbusch, Simon Lane).

Snowy Egret in Somerset County

A Snowy Egret was seen and photographed at Finderne Wetlands yesterday, Sep. 5 (Mike Russell). The following photo is by Mike Russell.

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Today, Mike found what is probably the same Snowy Egret again on a log at Dukes Parkway Park (not to be confused with Duke Island Park in Bridgewater or Duke Farms in Hillsborough). These two reports are the only records of Snowy Egret in either Somerset or Morris Counties for 2015.

(Photo by Mike Russell)

Earlier in the week, 12 Common Nighthawks were at Glenhurst Meadows and another 5 were seen over Stirling Rd., Warren Twp. (Jason Denesevich on Sept. 3).

Generally in recent days, migration has been meager, at best.

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region

Explorer. Use the following links:

• MorrisCounty
• SomersetCounty

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications

stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar

of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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An American Golden Plover, the first of the season in Somerset County, was reported early this evening from Selody Sod Farm, Montgomery Township. The plover was viewed from Skillman Road near Highfield Road (Nancy Gallagher, Mark Harris).

An adult Red-headed Woodpecker (RHWO) was seen yesterday at the snag area near the old trap shoot at Troy Meadows (Roger Johnson). The RHWO was seen again this morning at the same location (J. Klizas). Later in the morning, what was thought to be the same individual was seen near the gas line on Troy Meadows Road.

Early in the afternoon, the adult RHWO was seen again near the trap shoot (Chris Thomas) suggesting that there are at least two adults currently at Troy Meadows unless one is covering a very large area. Considering the historical attraction of Troy Meadows to RHWO, there may be more in the extensive snag groves.

A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was reported from Glenhurst Meadows today (Chris Thomas). Chris’s ID photo is below.

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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Unless someone knows otherwise, the alleged bird blooms on this morning’s migration radar must have passed over the Morris and Somerset region. No migrants were detected in a brief survey of Morris Township.

From Mike Hiotis, Aug. 27:
“I just saw a 1st year Little Blue Heron on the Raritan River at the west end of Burnt Mills Rd. in Bedminster. It was foraging well, walking east about 1/4 mile from the intersection of Burnt Mills and Rattlesnake Bridge Rd.”

[Editor’s Note: 2014 was an exceptional year for Little Blue Herons in the mocosocoBirds region. 2015 is a complete bust as Mike’s report is the only known record for this year.

From Ivan Kossak in Lincoln Park:
“I managed to bird some Lincoln Park spots 3 times this week and found increasing amounts of migrant activity as the week progressed. Highlight for the week was two Tennessee Warblers this morning at Two Bridges. I have also seen Prairie, Magnolia, Canada, Black-throated Blue plus several each of Black-and-white, Chestnut-sided and Redstart. Hot spots have been the path into the Lincoln Park Gravel Pits and Two Bridges.”

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

• Morris County
• Somerset County

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

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