mocosocoBirds

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron – Jefferson Rd. Pond is now an eBird Hotspot

The Parsippany Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (YCNH) of Jefferson Road Pond is seen either on branches near the pond or under the Jefferson Road bridge. Alan Boyd photographed the YCNH today. Some of his photos are here and here. Alan’s flickr photostream is here.

From Mike Ostrow:
“You never know what you’ll see out of this little corporate pond. The juve Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was in the water between the footbridge and road bridge. When I crossed over the road to look on the other side, a deer came out of thickets, from where I have no idea, crossed under the bridge in the water, and eventually came back. When I went back to the other side, it was clear the deer had flushed the heron out of its hiding area between the bridges and out onto the pond!”

Important note to eBirders: Jefferson Road Pond is now an eBird Hotspot. Please change your personal location to this Hotspot.

Here are the instructions in case you do not know how:

1. From your eBird account, go to My eBird.
2. Select Manage My Locations from the My Observations sidebar.
3. Search for whatever-you-labeled-Jefferson-Road-Pond-as and select it. This will load the Edit Location page.
4. Select Merge. You will see a red Hotspot marker for Jefferson Road Pond. Select that Hotspot. Select the Merge button and your checklists from that spot will now be associated with the Hotspot. Your personal location is removed.

This allows anyone to view ALL of the records out of the database for this location in one fell swoop. Please do this as soon as possible. The eBird range map for Jefferson Road Pond is currently a big mess and quickly growing into a bigger mess.

West Morris Greenway – North

Field Sparrow Family Tree, West Morris Greenway, June 25, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

The West Morris Greenway starts at Horseshoe Lake in Roxbury Township, goes south across Righter Road through an easement of the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority’s (MCMUA’s) property, crosses Pleasant Hill Road in Randolph Twp. and continues, eventually joining the Black River WMA portion of the trail all the way to Pleasant Hill Road in Chester Twp. The northern, or Roxbury/Randolph, section was dedicated in June of 2012.

This post chronicles the northern section through the MCMUA easement. The trail is quite wide (auto road width) and covered with fine gravel. It is completely flat and bordered on both sides by an attractive bottomland deciduous woodland with numerous ferns and other understory plants. There are a few MCMUA dirt roads interrupting the woodland. There is a powerline cut at approximately .75 miles from Righter Road. It is a popular jogging and biking trail so going there early in the morning is best, but there is enough room for everyone.

Bird highlights include 2 singing Northern Waterthrushes (NOWA), one on the south side of the trail opposite the first dirt road on the north side; the second, past the power line near mile marker 4.5. Both NOWA were silent by 8:00 a.m. At least 1 Pine Warbler was trilling in the White Pine grove at the power line. Other species include a flyover Green Heron, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, numerous Red-eyed Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Veerys, Wood Thrushes, Ovenbirds, American Redstart, Eastern Towhees, Field Sparrows, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, and other typical species.

The Summer Solstice occurs on Saturday, June 21 at 6:51 a.m. EDT (10:51 UTC).

Least Bittern at Troy Meadows

Troy Meadows, NJ, June 20, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

The Susquehanna-Roseland Project rolled through northwest Morris County in 2013. Along with the 500 kilovolt transmission line upgrade, Troy Meadows also had it’s dilapidated wooden walkway replaced as a result of the project. People who birded Troy Meadows years ago, may have memories of the old walkway, and like myself, may have fallen through a rotten plank or two along the way.

The new boardwalk is constructed of recycled plastic. It is of a latticed design which allows drainage. It also allows the Phragmites to overwhelm the walkway as they can easily poke their stems through the grids of the surface as can be seen in the photo above. The walkway may appear to end at the wall of Phragmites but actually continues on – if you dare.

Swamp Sparrow, Troy Meadows, NJ, June 20, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)

Early this morning, the current writer dared, trudging through the dew-covered vegetation and was rewarded with a fly-by Least Bittern. Elsewhere in Troy Meadows, a Pine Warbler was a surprise, singing and moving from one mature White Pine to another in the overgrown area known as the old homestead. Although they breed in Rockaway Township, this is not a typical species for the Parsippany area. Here is a recording: Pine Warbler, Troy Meadows, NJ, June 20, 2014

While walking at the edge of the marsh at the south end of Troy Meadows, a Wild Turkey hen and 5 poults were encountered.

Wild Turkey poult, Troy Meadows, NJ, June 20, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas )

From Mike Newlon:
This afternoon a pair of Bobolinks was at the Wagner Farm Parking lot on Mountain Ave in Warren Twp [Editor’s note. This is the property adjacent to Glenhurst Meadows]. The male spent much time singing from the fences of the two garden enclosures.

Bobolink, Warren Twp., NJ, June 20, 2014 (photo by Mike Newlon)

From Roger Johnson:
Went up to Snake Hill Rd., Rockaway Twp. – Lake Denmark Rd. is closed.
1 Worm-eating Warbler
1 Cerulean Warbler
8 American Redstarts
1 Louisiana Waterthrush
2 Acadian Flycatchers
Other expected species – the forest was rather quiet.

1 Great Egret was flying into Boonton Reservoir

Cliff Swallows

Cliff Swallow, Boonton Reservoir, NJ, June 17, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

2014 is at least the fourth year that Cliff Swallows are nesting at a few locations in Morris and Somerset Counties. The Cliff Swallows at the I-287 Bridge at Easton Avenue, Franklin Township maxed out with 17 nests in late July of 2013 (Jeff Ellerbusch).Today, 2 Cliff Swallows were at one nest at that location. There is a possible second nest next to the first. This is quite a drop off from 2013. The other Somerset County location on Weston Canal Road is not surveyed yet in 2014.

The Cliff Swallow population at the Rt. 202 bridge at Boonton Reservoir is stable. 8 Cliff Swallows were seen at one time. All of the nests are on the underside of the bridge. Based on where the swallows were flying to, there at least 4 nests and probably more  – similar to the previous two years.

Although difficult to view with the foliage, 2 Black-crowned Night-Herons continue to roost on the island at Jefferson Road Pond in Parsippany.

Blue Grosbeak and Yellow-breasted Chat at South Branch WMA

The South Branch WMA lies mostly in Hunterdon County although the northeastern section of the WMA is in Hillsborough Township, Somerset County. The following report is from Frank Sencher, Jr.:”The South Branch WMA Yellow-breasted Chat is 165 feet from the Somerset border, you can easily hear it from the parking lot. The singing Blue Grosbeak was in Somerset County by 220 feet.”

2 Blue Grosbeaks continue near the community garden at Duke Farms in Hillsborough Twp. (eBirded by Vicki Schwartz).