mocosocoBirds

Barred Owl, Great Swamp NWR, Jan. 24, 2014 (photo by Jonathan Klizas)

(Click on the photo for a larger image).

An afternoon drive on Pleasant Plains Road, Great Swamp NWR did not produce the Rough-legged Hawk found yesterday.
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At least two Red-headed Woodpeckers continue at Colonial Park in Franklin Township.

Red-headed Woodpecker, Franklin Twp., NJ, Jan. 24, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)

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As if anyone had to be reminded, the current deep freeze will continue for the near future.
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Alan Brady passed on Tuesday, January 21 at 93 years of age. A pelagic pioneer, Alan created a legendary record of birding exploits on the high seas and elsewhere. Richard Crossley wrote a wonderful tribute to Alan on the JerseyBirds listserv earlier today. That tribute is here.
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Please read the eBird article discussing the change in how Rock Pigeon will be recorded. In essence, the disitinction between Rock Pigeon (feral) and Rock Pigeon (wild ) is finalized. The article is here.
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The Franklin Twp. Sandhill Cranes were not seen this afternoon and have not been reported since Jan. 20, the day before the recent snow storm. On Jan. 18, this web site expressed concern about development of the Sandhill Crane wintering area of Randolph-Schoolhouse-Weston Canal Roads. That post is here.

Ted Chase, birder and town council member in Franklin Twp., commented on the status of the area. Ted’s insightful comments are reprinted below. Thank you, Ted.

“To reply to your concern about Crane lots being developed:
The first big lot (from Schoolhouse Rd) along Randolph, which belonged to the Pillar of Fire church, has been under development for sometime – it was essentially approved for development in 2006. This is where the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was a couple of years ago. The lot north of the House Foods tofu plant belongs to New Jersey American Water; it is not likely that anything will happen to it, their water treatment facilities are far from Randolph Rd. The big field along Randolph Rd still belongs to Pillar of Fire, and so far as I know they have no plans to sell it. Unfortunately, it seems to have been in soybeans this year rather than corn – I think the cranes prefer the corn fields. There is a big field behind which also belongs to Pillar of Fire, and was in corn this year. One has to walk in to get any kind of look at it. NJ American Water has land extending down to Weston Canal Rd. There is another lot between it and the lot along Randolph Rd, which is approved for a warehouse – indeed it has been approved three times, warehouse, data center, warehouse again; not much has been done. Farther south, Pillar of Fire has corn fields both sides of Schoolhouse Rd. They could sell any of these fields, but so far have shown no signs of doing so; another possibility is conversion to soccer fields. I looked for the cranes on Thursday, didn’t see them (though in the field north of Weston Causeway, 106 Canada Geese were accompanied by one Snow).
Ted Chase
Franklin Twp (Councilman and Planning Board member)”

Barred Owl, Great Swamp NWR, Jan. 24, 2014 (photo by J. Klizas)

The Greater White-fronted Goose continues at the equestrian fields of Lord Stirling Park (Lord Stirling Road, Bernards Twp.), as late as this afternoon (many observers).

A dark morph Snow Goose (Blue Goose) continues in the Washington Township area of Morris County. It was with 1,000+ Canada Geese off Fairmount Rd. and eventually flew to Beacon Hill Road.

Over 1,600 gulls were at the southern end of Budd Lake at 4:30 this afternoon. A split of 850 Herring, 750 Ring-billed and 5 Great Black-backed Gulls failed to uncover any rarities. At 4:45 all of the gulls became aloft, circling the frozen lake for a while and gradually peeling off towards the south. A smaller group stayed at the lake moving to the northeast portion where the 400 Canada Geese were roosting in the only sliver of open water on the lake.

From eBird:

The 5 Redheads continue at a corporate site at 290 Davidson Avenue in Franklin Twp. (Beth Scott).

The continuing Redhead plus 2 Cackling Geese were at the Amwell Road pond in Hillsborough Twp. (Robert Skrabal).

The 6 Sandhill Cranes of Franklin Twp. were seen at Randolph Road, Franklin Township (Zach Batren).

Cackling Goose with Canada Geese, Florham Park, NJ, Jan. 12, 2014 (digi-phone-scoped by Jamie Glydon)

2 Cackling Geese were seen with approximately 800+ Canada Geese at the southern end of Pinch Brook Golf Course in Florham Park this afternoon. Viewing was from a parking lot on Ridgedale Avenue. Most of the geese had flown by 4:45 p.m. heading towards the general vicinity of Black Meadows in Hanover Township (Jamie Glydon). While essentially widespread in Somerset County, Cackling Goose is a difficult species to find in Morris and these are the first reported in 2014.

A blue-morph Snow Goose was with 450 Canada Geese in a pond on Beacon Hill Road, Middle Valley, Washington Township (Dave Harrison). Dave also found 2014’s first Red-breasted Nuthatch in the mocosocoBirds area at Kenvil Pond, Roxbury Township. This species is absent from its typical locations in Morris county this year.

20 Snow Buntings were flyovers in Gillette, Long Hill Township, vocalizing and showing “flashes of white and light brown” (Jim Mulvey).

The 6 Sandhill Cranes of Franklin Township were seen on Randolph Road today (Kristi Reed).

From Leslie Webster:
“News from Loantaka Brook Reservation: the paths are mostly ice-free as of this morning. Small groups of the usual winter birds were foraging in the woods and a Hermit Thrush was on the forest floor near the path at the edge of the Loantaka Way field. At Kitchell Pond, the upper half of which is ice free, there were three Hooded Mergansers (two males) and a Ruddy Duck, in addition to six Green-winged Teal and four Mallards. Three Herring Gulls have joined sixteen Ring-billed Gulls on the ice and water.”