Outstanding Day at Chimney Rock, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Chimney Rock
Martinsville, NJ, USA
Daily Raptor Counts : 11/3/2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
BV 0 0 0
TV 0 0 0
OS 1 1 423
BE 3 4 179
NH 7 9 87
SS 51 82 1891
CH 21 27 289
NG 0 1 1
RS 143 168 252
BW 0 0 17895
RT 92 102 178
RL 0 0 0
GE 6 13 18
AK 0 0 594
ML 4 7 221
PG 0 0 31
UI 0 0 19
Total 328 414 22078
Hours 10.0 21.5 557.0

Notes : NNW wind. 6 Golden Eagles. This is unprecedented at the Rock
having now had 13 in two days. The current total of 18 ties the
best season. 145 Red-shouldered hawks is a new single day record
and 45 is a new single hour record. 1 Goshawk has been deducted
from yesterdays count after reviewing photographic evidence.
Lesser Black-backed Gull and Horned Larks were firsts of season.
The last two days can only be described as amazing.

John Kee

Daily Totals
Hourly Stats Report
Species Checklist for November 3
2013 Summary (standard)
Bird Checklist Query

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Golden Eagles, Northern Goshawk at Wildcat Ridge, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Wildcat Ridge
Hibernia, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 27 28
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 83
Bald Eagle 0 0 57
Northern Harrier 1 1 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 20 466
Cooper’s Hawk 0 3 68
Northern Goshawk 1 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 10 13 20
Broad-winged Hawk 2 2 4314
Red-tailed Hawk 31 41 49
Golden Eagle 2 4 4
American Kestrel 0 2 49
Merlin 0 0 10
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 8
Unknown Raptor 0 0 11
Total: 59 114 5179

Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 5 hours

Official Counter: Fred Vanderburgh
Observers: Kevin M, Nora O., Mike L., Tom G.

Visitors:
Visitors = 28

Weather:
Temperature 44-50F, Wind from the N-NW 10-15 mph, 100% cloud cover
decreasing to 40% in the afternoon, visibility 20 miles. Cold until
sunshine broke through the cloud cover.

Raptor Observations:
Another day of unexpected delights!

Redtail migrants were moving out at very high altitudes.

A pair of Golden Eagles came into the valley from the east (13:27) and gave
us a second day opportunity of good looks (10 minutes) as they gained
altitude to go south.

A Northern Goshawk gave us a good view for a positive ID.

A pair of unexpected Broadwings were observed just after the sun broke
through the cloud cover.

A good Red Shoulder day as well as they also gave the observers close
views.

The last bird of the day … a Northern Harrier.

Non-raptor Observations:
Many skeins of geese, flocks of blackbirds and waxwings were on the move
south.
=================================================
Report submitted by Fred Vanderburgh
Wildcat Ridge – New Jersey information may be found at:
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/wldcthwk.htm

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Golden Eagles, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sunday Field Notes, Nov. 3, 2013

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

6 Golden Eagles, 140 Red-shouldered Hawks at Chimney Rock

It has been a memorable weekend at Chimney Rock. At least 6 more Golden Eagles passed over the hawk watch one day after a Rock one-day record of 7 was set on Nov. 2. Today’s 140 Red-shouldered Hawks set a new one day record at The Rock. Raptors were joined by migrating Common Loons (4), a Lesser-Black-backed Gull, Snow Geese, American Pipits, Purple Finches and 100+ Horned Larks (Jeff Ellerbusch, et al).

2 Golden Eagles, Northern Goshawk at Wildcat Ridge

Wildcat Ridge Hawk Watch in Hibernia tallied 2 Golden Eagles for a total of 4 for the weekend. The season’s only Northern Goshawk at the hawk watch was also observed.

Both Chimney Rock and Wildcat Ridge’s Hawk Watch reports will be reported in separate posts.

Sunday Field Notes

The Sora and Pectoral Sandpiper at Kitchell Pond (labeled as Lake on the map), Loantaka Brook Reservation continue for a third day. Also observed were 2 Rusty Blackbirds and a flyover American Pipit.

Sora, Loantaka Brook Reservation, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Sora, Loantaka Brook Reservation, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Rusty Blackbird, Loantaka Brook Reservation, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Rusty Blackbird, Loantaka Brook Reservation, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Speaking of American Pipits, which are seemingly everywhere the past few days, 100+ were at Florham Park Fields this afternoon.

Boonton Reservoir had a Common Loon, 3 Bufflehead, 6 Ruddy Ducks, 22 American Coot along with the typical species found there.

Sasso Tract in Rockaway Twp., had 9 Wild Turkeys, 7 Fox Sparrows, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures with migrating Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks overhead, and an American Woodcock in the woods which was flushed twice – the second time after almost being stepped upon on the path.

Troy Meadows continues to have abundant blackbirds and sparrows with 17 Rusty Blackbirds in the Smith Ditch area and sparrow species including Fox and White-crowned joining the other representative species of the area (Jamie Glydon).

Taylortown Reservoir had 10 Hooded Mergansers (Julie Buechner). This long, narrow and difficult to view body of water at the base of Pyramid Mountain frequently has one of the highest numbers of Hooded Mergansers in Morris County.

Melanie Lane Wetlands had 17 Green-winged Teal, 1 Ruddy Duck, 4 Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, 1 American Coot and 2 Wilson’s Snipe. Click on the photos below for a larger image.

Green-winged Teal, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Green-winged Teal, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Northern Shoveler, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Northern Shoveler, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Gadwall, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

Gadwall, Melanie Lane, Hanover, NJ, Nov. 3, 2013 (photo by Chuck Hantis).

See the link below, regarding Christmas Bird Counts in Morris and Somerset Counties:
Christmas Bird Counts – 2013

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2013 Christmas Bird Counts in Morris and Somerset Counties

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

The 114th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season takes place from December 14, 2013 through January 5, 2014. There are three CBCs covering three weekends of the CBC season in Morris and Somerset Counties. Here are the counts and their contact information:

The Great Swamp/Watchung Ridges CBC (66th year)
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Compiler: Simon Lane
Email: simon_c_lane at Hotmail dot com

The Boonton CBC (78th Year)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Compiler: Jonathan Klizas
Email: boontoncbc at gmail dot com

The Somerset County CBC (56th year)
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Compiler: John Kee
Email: jkee at nac dot net

Further information about the counts is forthcoming.

Other relevant links:

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7 Golden Eagles, 2 No. Goshawks, 86 Raptors at Chimney Rock, NJ, Nov. 2, 2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Chimney Rock
Martinsville, NJ, USA
Daily Raptor Counts : 11/2/2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
BV 0 0 0
TV 0 0 0
OS 0 0 422
BE 1 1 176
NH 2 2 80
SS 30 31 1840
CH 6 6 268
NG 2 2 2
RS 25 25 109
BW 0 0 17895
RT 10 10 86
RL 0 0 0
GE 7 7 12
AK 0 0 594
ML 3 3 217
PG 0 0 31
UI 0 0 19
Total 86 87 21751
Hours 7.0 11.5 547.0

Notes : SW to NW Winds. 5 juvenile and 2 sub-adult Golden Eagles. 7 is
a new single day record and 6 is a new single hour record for
Chimney Rock. 1 adult and 1 immature Goshawk. 8 Red-
shouldereds in a kettle. 7 Ravens in the afternoon. Many Cedar
waxwings and Crows.

John Kee

Daily Totals
Hourly Stats Report
Species Checklist for November 2
2013 Summary (standard)
Bird Checklist Query

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2 Golden Eagles at Wildcat Ridge, NJ, Nov. 2, 2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Wildcat Ridge
Hibernia, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 02, 2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 27 27 28
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 0 83
Bald Eagle 0 0 57
Northern Harrier 0 0 10
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8 8 454
Cooper’s Hawk 3 3 68
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 3 10
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4312
Red-tailed Hawk 10 10 18
Golden Eagle 2 2 2
American Kestrel 2 2 49
Merlin 0 0 10
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 8
Unknown Raptor 0 0 11
Total: 55 55 5120

Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 14:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours

Official Counter: Fred Vanderburgh
Observers: Kevin M, Rick S, Tom G.

Visitors:
Visitors = 27. Additionally, Ruby (3 1/2 yrs) hiked up with her dad and
feed the Chickadees. Also credited for attracting the GE’s. Sorry that you
missed them Richard.

Weather:
Temperature 57-65F, variable cloud cover 60-5%, NW winds 5-10 mph
visibility 10 -15 miles. A light rain sprinle closed the watch for the day.
A great day to be out at the watch.

Raptor Observations:
An unexpected flurry of species came through with the crown jewel for us,
Golden Eagles.

A large kettle of BV’s migrated past the watch with two sub adult Golden
Eagles (11:30 EDT). Goldens appeared again (11:54-2:06 EDT) giving us a
great look for an extended period of time at close / low fight. Our
thoughts are that the GE’s circled around behind us to the NW to avoid the
dark rain clouds coming into the area,then came back around in front of the
watch site to continue in the SW direction. We decided to error on the side
of caution and registered two in the count.

Non-raptor Observations:
Many Cedar Waxwings and Robins feeding off the cedar tree and bushes in
front of the watch.
=================================================================
Report submitted by Fred Vanderburgh
Wildcat Ridge – New Jersey information may be found at:
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/wldcthwk.htm

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Golden Eagles, Northern Goshawk, and other field notes, Nov. 2, 2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

7 Golden Eagles at Chimney Rock

In 2.5 hours this afternoon, 7 Golden Eagles (2 groups of 3, together) and a Northern Goshawk passed over Chimney Rock Hawk Watch in Martinsville (Jeff Ellerbusch, Simon Lane, et al). The full tally will appear on the Chimney Rock post later today.

Other Field Notes

Sora
Sora at Loantaka (photo by Chris Thomas)

The Sora, Dunlin and Pectoral Sandpiper of Loantaka Brook Reservation found yesterday were seen again today in various combinations as not everyone saw all three (Jamie Glydon, Chris Thomas, et al).

9 Red-headed Woodpeckers were along the Passaic River at Glenhurst Meadows. 2 Vesper Sparrows were in the garden lot. 8 White-crowned Sparrows, 2 Fox Sparrows, 14 Rusty Blackbirds and flyover American Pipits and Purple Finches are some of the many highlights (Jeff Ellerbusch).

Troy Meadows had 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers in the snags by the skeet area. The Great Egret made it into November in the secluded pond and was joined by 7 Greater Yellowlegs this morning. Two Bald Eagles flew over the marsh as two helicopters hovered over the power line construction area. Dark-eyed Juncos numbers swelled as of this morning. A Vesper Sparrow was in the skeet area with numerous other sparrows. There were hundreds of White-throated and Song Sparrows today. Fox Sparrows and a Hermit Thrush were literally on Troy Meadows Road. At least 17 Rusty Blackbirds were scattered about the Troy Meadows Road area frequently with the 300+ Red-winged Blackbirds.

Lake Hopatcong had 15 Buffleheads near Brady Road Bridge. Bertrand Island had 102 Herring Gulls and 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, Pied-billed Grebe, 7 American Coot and 48 Ruddy Ducks.

Lake Musconetcong had 24 Pied-billed Grebes, 40 Gadwall, 4 American Wigeon, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 14 American Coot and other typical species (100+ Mute Swans, etc.)

65 American Pipts were on the model airplance field on Kennedy-Kinney Road off Waterloo Valley Road in Mt. Olive Township. An airplane club was flying remote controlled model planes. The Pipits would reposition themselves every pass of the plane, which was a couple of times a minute. The Tilcon Lake side of the area had kids on dirt bikes and no birds.

American Pipits in Mt. Olive Twp., NJ, Nov. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

American Pipits in Mt. Olive Twp., NJ, Nov. 2, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Mt. Hope Lake’s Ruddy Duck numbers are down to 790 from last week’s 900+. Other than a lone Wood Duck, the usual swans and a single Double-crested Cormorant, there were no other duck species on the lake.

Hooded Mergansers made their first appearance of the season in Morris County with 5 at Birchwood Lake (near the The Tourne) along with 40 Ring-necked Ducks (Julie Buechner). Another Hooded Merganser was at the American Road corporate pond in Morris Plains, famous for last winter’s juvenile Pacific Loon (Jamie Glydon).

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6 Raptors at Wildcat Ridge, Oct. 29, 2013

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

[From 3 days ago]
Wildcat Ridge
Hibernia, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 29, 2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 0 1
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 0 6 83
Bald Eagle 0 7 57
Northern Harrier 0 5 10
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 121 446
Cooper’s Hawk 1 22 65
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 2 7
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 4312
Red-tailed Hawk 0 5 8
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 0 12 47
Merlin 0 2 10
Peregrine Falcon 0 6 8
Unknown Raptor 0 0 11
Total: 6 188 5065

Observation start time: 08:30:00
Observation end time: 12:30:00
Total observation time: 4 hours

Official Counter: Frank Budney

Observers: Harold L.

Visitors:
Visitors = 2

Weather:
Mostly cloudy and haze beyond 3 miles. Cloud cover ranged from 100% to 5%
back to 100%. Temperature range, 42º F to 55º F. Wind, WNW and variable
to 5 mph. Visibility, 5 to 7 miles.

Raptor Observations:
TVs started circling above Fort Lee just after 0910. About 10 of them
headed toward the condos then circled the ridges the rest of the morning.
Ten BVs also on site over Bald Hill about an hour later. At 0955 the first
migrant (SS) spotted low between Fort Lee and NYC. Two more SS spotted with
a flight of 10 BVs at 1120 over Bald Hill. Last bird of the day (CH) came
from behind the cell tower and passed over the look out at 1207.

Non-raptor Observations:
Five flights of Canada Geese, numbering from 10 to over 50, passed over the
valley during the day. Raven, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow,
White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped
Chickadee, Ruby-crowned kinglet, Cedar Waxwing
====================================================
Report submitted by Fred Vanderburgh
Wildcat Ridge – New Jersey information may be found at:
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/wldcthwk.htm

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Slow days at Chimney Rock, NJ, Nov. 1, 2013

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Today’s total of 1 raptor bettered yesterday’s count by 1.
Chimney Rock
Martinsville, NJ, USA
Daily Raptor Counts : 11/1/2013

Species Day’s Count Month Total Season Total
BV 0 0 0
TV 0 0 0
OS 0 0 422
BE 0 0 175
NH 0 0 78
SS 1 1 1810
CH 0 0 262
NG 0 0 0
RS 0 0 84
BW 0 0 17895
RT 0 0 76
RL 0 0 0
GE 0 0 5
AK 0 0 594
ML 0 0 214
PG 0 0 31
UI 0 0 19
Total 1 1 21665
Hours 4.5 4.5 540.0

Notes : Morning rained out. 1 Sharp-shinned at 4:27 PM.

John Kee

Daily Totals

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Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper and Sora in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013

Posted on November 1, 2013 by Jonathan Klizas

Kitchell Pond at Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morris Township has a history of hosting interesting species: Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, shorebirds such as 2012’s Long-billed Dowitcher, seasonal species such as Solitary, Spotted, and Least Sandpipers and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Today’s findings by Julie Buechner add to the pond’s legacy. In late afternoon’s fading light, a Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sora and a Killdeer were all in the same field of view at the same time. Any one of the first three species of the quartet would be noteworthy enough in Morris County, but all three at the same time is extra-extraordinary for little Kitchell Pond. Incidentally, the pond is in Morris Township but the entire reservation spans the townships of Harding, Morris and Chatham. Those who frequent the place know it for the gem that it is.

The photos below are for ID purposes only. Marginal photo equipment and 6 p.m. light were the best that could be done.

Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Sora in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Sora in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Pectoral Sandpiper in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Pectoral Sandpiper in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Dunlin in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Dunlin in Morris Co., Nov. 1, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

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