mocosocoBirds

Yellow-breasted Chat at Lord Stirling Park

Yellow-breasted Chat, Lord Stirling Park, NJ, May 30, 2015 (photo by Chris Thomas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

As Chris Thomas shows in the above photograph from yesterday and Stuart and Wendy Malmid found out today, the Yellow-breasted Chat continues at Lord Stirling Park. This is the second consecutive year for a Chat at the Bullfrog Pond location.

Other Field Notes

Birds along the Somerset County portion of Black River Road going into Lamington include Black-billed Cuckoo, American Kestrel, Bobolinks and Eastern Meadowlarks (Jeff Ellerbusch).

One species that is missing this year from the Morris and Somerset area is Red-headed Woodpecker. A few were seen earlier in May at Glenhurst Meadows along the Passaic River, but none were seen or heard on the Long Hill Wetlands side of the river today and have not been reported for two weeks despite regular coverage by birders on the Glenhurst Meadows side of the river.

The Long Hill Wetlands are frequently flooded, or at least wet, with a series of ditches filled with varying levels of water. The ditches are currently no more than moist mud. Mosquitos and Poison Ivy abound – and also a Great Egret hanging out in a tree overhanging the Passaic River as seen in the photo below.

Great Egret, Passaic River, Long Hill Twp., NJ, May 31, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Another missing species is White-eyed Vireo, at least from the Washington Valley area in Morris Twp. Regular at two locations the past few years, none have appeared in 2015.

These are just some of the reports for today. 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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Lark Sparrow in Florham Park

A well-described Lark Sparrow was reported at Florham Park Fields yesterday afternoon (Dominic Garcia-Hall). The Lark Sparrow was not relocated today despite several observers looking at different times during the day.

Only two other second and third-hand records are known for this species in Morris County. This is an unusual date for Lark Sparrow in New Jersey as most occur in the autumn. Interestingly, a well-documented and photographed Lark Sparrow was observed in Brooklyn on May 23-24 of this year.

It is previously mentioned in this space that numerous No Trespassing signs have appeared on the Florham Park Fields property since last year. See below:

N. Rough-winged Swallow, Florham Park, May 17, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Hybrid Warblers continue at Glenhurst Meadows

“Lawrence’s” Warbler, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, May 28, 2015 (photo by Robert Gallucci)

A “Lawrence’s” Warbler (Blue-winged, or “Brewster’s”, x Golden-winged Warbler hybrid) was seen again at Glenhurst Meadows (Robert Gallucci). A continuing “Brewster’s” Warbler was also found.

These are just some of the reports for today. 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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Mourning Warblers at Lord Stirling Park

Mourning Warbler, Lord Stirling Park, NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Jeff Ellerbusch)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

4-5 Mourning Warblers were found at various locations within Lord Stirling Park this morning, such as the Lenape Loop, Dance Floor and Bullfrog Pond areas (Jeff Ellerbusch, Simon Lane).  An audio recording of one of the Mourning Warblers is here.

Other species observed include a singing Alder Flycatcher, a sound recording of which is here, Wilson’s Warbler, Canada Warbler and Lincoln’s Sparrow. The Yellow-breasted Chat and White-eyed Vireo continue near Bullfrog Pond.

Yellow-breasted Chat, Lord Stirling Park, NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Simon Lane)

West Morris Greenway

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Randolph Twp., NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

The section of the West Morris Greenway traveled today is between Righter Road in Roxbury and Pleasant Hill Road in Randolph. It was opened in 2012 and extends the West Morris Greenway from the Black River WMA trail in Chester. A trail map is here.

This is wooded bottomland habitat drained by the Black River and owned by the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MCMUA). The main trail, a wide gravel road actually, has an offshoot from the powerline where a mowed path cuts through some edge habitat. This is where two singing Chestnut-sided Warblers were today along with Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warblers, Indigo Buntings and Wild Turkey. The White Pine grove along the power-line has a singing Pine Warbler.

Ovenbird, Randolph Twp., NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

The main trail had typical species of the habitat including Red-shouldered Hawk, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Wood Thrush, Louisiana Waterthrush and 3 Northern Waterthrushes, American Redstart, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and numerous Red-eyed Vireos and Ovenbirds. A side pond held two Great Egrets, 1 Great Blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher.

Yellow Warbler, Randolph Twp., NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Other Field Notes

2 Blue Grosbeaks are reported from Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve, “near the pond on the telephone wires.” (Tara Snyder via eBird).

Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer make up the Morris shorebird report from the Fish Tract in Florham Park.

Greater Yellowlegs, Florham Park, NJ, May 24, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

These are just some of the reports for today. 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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Mourning Warbler at Troy Meadows

Mourning Warbler, Troy Meadows, NJ, May 22, 2015 (photo by Chris Thomas)

A singing Mourning Warbler was found near the trap shoot area of Troy Meadows Road at Troy Meadows this morning by Chris Thomas. Whether this is the same individual that was seen on Wednesday is anyone’s guess. Also reported are 2 Swainson’s Thrushes, 3 Northern Waterthrushes, Chestnut-sided and 5 Blackpoll Warblers. The Mourning Warbler was not relocated in the afternoon by several birders.

General Notes

The Yellow-breasted Chat of Lord Stirling Park is not reported during the week although could still be in the area of Bullfrog Pond.

The end is near for Spring Migration 2015, but a prolonged movement this year should continue through the holiday weekend. Sunday and Monday mornings have southerly winds forecast. The Birdcast forecast for May 22-29 is here.

These are just some of the reports for today. 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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Olive-sided Flycatcher, Roxbury Twp., NJ, May 19, 2015 (photo by Alan Boyd)

Morris County’s only Olive-sided Flycatcher report so far in 2015 comes from a private residence in Roxbury Twp. (Alan Boyd). This is a hard-to-find spring species in the Morris-Somerset area. In 2014, there are two May reports on eBird for Morris County and only one May report for Somerset.

Duke Island Park had 9 Spotted Sandpipers and 8 Least Sandpipers today.

Finderne Wetlands had 1 Semipalmated Plover, 3 Spotted Sandpipers, 1 Greater Yellowlegs and 4 Least Sandpipers (Jeff Ellerbusch).

From Daniel Albohn in Convent Station:
“20 – 30 Cedar Waxwings 7PM – 7:30PM hung out high on the treetops, and then together took off toward Loantaka and other points south.”

These are just some of the reports for today. 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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