mocosocoBirds

Little Blue Heron, Lincoln Park, NJ, July 24, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

A juvenile Little Blue Heron joined the 21 Great Blue Herons, 5 Green Herons and 17 Great Egrets at the Lincoln Park Gravel Pits this morning. The throng was at the southern end of the main lake. The photo above is from a distance and heavily cropped.

It was mentioned in an earlier post on July 13 how the invasive Water Chestnut (allegedly Trapa natans) is blanketing most of the lake and will cover it entirely in the next year or two. Interestingly, numerous Wood Ducks, especially ducklings, are using the vegetation mat for cover and Cedar Waxwings and Red-winged Blackbirds are standing on the mat hawking insects.

This space has previously stated the following and will say it again: there is no easy way to visit the Lincoln Park Gravel Pits. Street parking is all that is available. The legal entry is from the northwest end where there is a very small, easy to miss trail on Lincoln Park Rd. near Kamm St. slightly west of the Knights of Columbus facility. You can find a vague trail that eventually traverses a berm separating the swim club from the rest of the pits. People use this area for fishing. A hunting club is leasing the rest of the property, so this author is told. In other words, you are on your own if you wish to explore the property further .

An adult male Blue Grosbeak made an appearance in Hillsborough today at Hillsborough Road near the Rt. 206 bypass (Frank Sencher, Jr.).

Parsippany’s Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is seen sporadically lately. It is probably in the dense foliage of the island at Jefferson Road Pond if it is not in the two bridges area of the south end of the pond. Chuck Hantis caught it taking a dip on July 20 in the following photos.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, July 20, 2014 (photo by Chuck Hantis)

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Parsippany, NJ, July 20, 2014 (photo by Chuck Hantis)

Bird reports are slowing down as we get deeper into summer. mocosocoBirds posts will be sporadic for the next few weeks.

Two White-eyed Vireos are summering in the Washington Valley section of Morris Township. This is a trend for the past few years. One is at the Moody Farm along the asphalt trail. The second is along the Patriots Path section of Whitehead Road.

The June 17 mocosocoBirds post describes the lack of Cliff Swallows at the formerly productive site on the I-287 bridge on the D&R Towpath along Easton Avenue in Franklin Township. The post mentions that a second nesting location on another I-287 bridge along Weston Canal Road had yet to be surveyed. That changed yesterday.

Jeff Ellerbusch visited the Weston Canal site on July 14 and found a total of 24 nests, 23 on the east side of the bridge and 1 on the west. Of these, 21 on the east side are active; the rest are not. The tally of Cliff Swallows is 35. Apparently, the Cliff Swallows abandoned the Easton Avenue site.

The Dickcissels of Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve are reported daily. 2 individuals were seen and listed on eBird today (Jeff Dale).

3 adult Black-crowned Night-Herons were at Jefferson Road Pond
in Parsippany, July 14 (Julie Buechner). The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is not reported since July 6.

A pair of Cattle Egrets flew south over Duke Farms in Hillsborough Township this morning. They were photographed in flight (Jeff Ellerbusch). This is only the second record for Duke Farms and the third known record in Somerset County. Other highlights at Duke Farms are: 35 Grasshopper Sparrows, Blue Grosbeak, 133 Bobolinks and 21 Eastern Meadowlarks. These reports are on Duke’s private lands, not the core estate open to the public.

The Dickcissels at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve continue with many reports today.

Fish Tract in Florham Park has 19 Killdeer, 2 Spotted Sandpipers and 10 Least Sandpipers.

Least Sandpiper, Lincoln Park, NJ, July 13, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

Lincoln Park Gravel Pits has 4 Great Blue Herons, 12 Great Egrets, 2 Green Herons, Red-shouldered Hawk, 10 Killdeer, 1 Spotted Sandpiper and 1 lone Least Sandpiper. Water levels remain high. The Water Chestnut (Trapa natans) invasion threatens to completely overtake the main body of water in the next few years. Interestingly, the smaller second pond has none (J. Klizas).

Here are two views of the lake at Lincoln Park Gravel Pits with the spreading mat of Water Chestnut: the first looking south, the second looking north.

Water Chestnut, Lincoln Park Gravel Pits, July 13, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)

Water Chestnut, Lincoln Park Gravel Pits, July 13, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)