mocosocoBirds

The cold blast of northerly air today may seem to contradict migration movement, but some birds are going to show up no matter what.

Large numbers of swallows, especially Tree and Barn Swallows, dominated many bodies of water today.  Purple Martins and hundreds of other swallows are at Budd Lake. Lake Musconetcong has Purple Martins and Cliff Swallows. Bank Swallows are reported from Somerset County.

Ovenbird, Blue-headed Vireos, Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird and Ruby-throated Hummingbird are some of the arrivals reported the past few days in Morris and Somerset Counties.

Loons and Grebes are absent at certain Morris Lakes as of today. Boonton Reservoir is holding on to a sampling of these species. A Red-necked Grebe, 2 Horned Grebes and a not-quite-completely-alternate-plumed Common Loon were at the north end this afternoon.

Common Loon, Boonton Reservoir, NJ, Apr. 24, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed 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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5 Red-throated Loons, probably storm-related, are at the north end of Boonton Reservoir this afternoon. 11 Common Loons, 1 Red-necked Grebe and 1 Horned Grebe are also at the reservoir.

Lake Parsippany has 1 Ring-necked Duck, 4 Lesser Scaup, 2 Bufflehead, 19 Ruddy Ducks and 1 Common Loon.

Birds at Opie Road include 3 Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, American Pipits, Purple Martin, etc. (Jeff Ellerbusch).

The area’s first White-eyed Vireo was found in a downpour this morning at Glenhurst Meadows (Mackay James).

From Susan Treesh in Somerset:
“House Wrens were back behind my house today! I don’t think the Tree Swallows have had enough advance times to claim their boxes.”

The following photos taken yesterday at Bamboo Brook in Chester Twp. are by Mark Kalmbach. Click on the photo for a larger image.

Palm Warbler, Bamboo Brook, Chester Twp., NJ, Apr. 19, 2015 (photo by Mark Kalmbach)

Tree Swallows, Bamboo Brook, Chester Twp., NJ, Apr. 19, 2015 (photo by Mark Kalmbach)

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed 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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Pine Warbler, Troy Meadows, April 19, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Between 6:00 and 6:300 this morning over 2,000 Red-winged Blackbirds, predominantly females, lifted off in groups of 100-300 from the marsh at Troy Meadows. 600 Common Grackles did likewise. All the birds flew in a northeast direction.

Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers are numerous in the right habitats with Pine Warblers a distant third. Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Brown Thrashers and Eastern Towhees are hard to miss at the current time.

The BirdCast forecast for the week of April 17-24 is here.

A Black-crowned Night-Heron was refound at Jefferson Road Pond today after an absence of a two weeks. Of course, it is not certain it is the same individual (Julie Buechner).

Melanie Lane Wetlands had 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Blue-winged Teal, 13 Wilson’s Snipe in view and Green-winged Teal.

Glenhurst Meadows had Solitary Sandpiper and Eastern Meadowlark this afternoon (Jeff Ellerbusch).

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed 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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Purple Finches and Pine Siskins

Looking out at the bird feeder, the only species seen are Purple Finches and Pine Siskins.

Purple Finch, Morris Twp., NJ, Apr. 18, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Hopefully, you are able to enjoy the winter finches that are currently gracing feeders in Morris and Somerset Counties. Pine Siskins are daily at a feeder on Kemble Mountain in Morris Township for 11 weeks. Purple Finches have taken over the tube feeder during the past week.

The feeder in Morris Twp., NJ, Apr. 18, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Sandhill Cranes in Montgomery Twp.

Sandhill Cranes, Montgomery Twp., NJ, Apr. 16, 2015 (photo by Nancy Gallagher)

From Nancy Gallagher:
“My husband John and I spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes in a cornfield on Rte 518 in Montgomery Township. This was at 10:30 am Thursday morning, April 16th. The field is on the south side of 518, just east of Spring Hill Road. After a few minutes they both took flight, circling for a bit, then heading northwest for parts unknown.”

Sandhill Cranes, Montgomery Twp., NJ, Apr. 16, 2015 (photo by Nancy Gallagher)

Other Field Notes

Greater Yellowlegs, Florham Park, NJ, Apr. 18, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

A Greater Yellowlegs and 5 Savannah Sparrows were at the Fish Tract, Florham Park this morning.

Savannah Sparrow, Florham Park, NJ, Apr. 18, 2015 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

30 Wilson’s Snipe, 2 Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal and Gadwall are at Melanie Lane Wetlands.

A Common Yellowthroat sang briefly after dawn on Pleasant Plains Rd., Great Swamp NWR.

Several reports of Yellow Warbler at Great Swamp NWR signal the return of this species to Morris County.

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed 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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2014 was a banner year for Yellow-throated Warbler sightings in Morris and especially Somerset. The spring of 2015 is off to a promising start, as well.

(Yellow-throated Warbler, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, Apr. 17, 2015 – photo by Rob Gallucci. Clicking on the photo will send you to Rob’s Flickr portfolio with several more photos of this warbler.)

A Yellow-throated Warbler was found this morning at Glenhurst Meadows by Rob Gallucci and MacKay James and was present late in the afternoon. It favors the trees bordering Cory Brook heading north towards the ponds. It kept company with a group of Palm, Yellow-rumped and Pine Warblers.

(Yellow-throated Warbler, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, Apr. 17, 2015 – photo by Jeff Ellerbusch)

In photographs, the individual appears to have a hint of a yellow supercilium before the eye, plus no white on the chin. Observers might think this is enough to label this individual as Setophaga dominca dominica, the “coastal” Yellow-throated Warbler rather than the typically white-lored S. d. albilora, the “Sycamore Warbler”. The bill, on the other hand, seems small for a typical dominica and more in the range of S. d. albilora. 

Dunn and Garrett’s Warblers (Dunn, J. L., and K. L. Garrett. 1997. A Field Guide to Warblers of North America. Houghton Mifflin, New York) says the following: S. d. albilora is distinguished from S. d. dominica by its smaller bill (bill size is consistent throughout its range). The account goes on to say that while S. d. albilora have a white, rather than yellow, supraloral stripe, many have a yellow tinge to the area and some S. d. dominica appear almost whitish there. Furthermore, most, but not all, albilora show some white on the extreme upper chin.

Is there one feature that determines subspecies in this case? Apparently not. This individual could go either way depending on how much weight one puts on the specific characteristics.

Yellow-throated Warbler, Setophaga dominca, works for this observer. As far as is known, this is a first record for Glenhurst Meadows.

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed 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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