mocosocoBirds

The Cerulean Warbler on Waterloo Valley Road, originally found in May, continues along the section of road south of Kinney-Bell Road (Jamie Glydon). Chestnut-sided Warblers were also encountered. Anyone who has visited this stretch of road can attest to it being an American Redstart ghetto.  A Common Loon remains on nearby Tilcon Lake. It has been here for at least a month assuming it is the same Loon.

Eastern Meadowlark, Washington Twp., June 16, 2013 (ID photo digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Eastern Meadowlarks and Bobolinks were found today in a grassland field in the southern portion of Washington Township. The field is on private property. Eastern Meadowlark has become a difficult species to find in Morris County. It is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife in both breeding and non-breeding status.

A link to the list of Species of Special Concern is here.
A link to the list of New Jersey’s Endangered and Threatened Wildlife is here.

There are now two known occurrences of Black-Crowned Night-Herons (BCNH) in Morris County for 2013. Chatham’s Stanley Park has one annually, apparently. It has been seen on or near the Passaic River sporadically since May. Another BCNH was spotted today at Boonton Reservoir on the south side of the island. Other species at the Reservoir include the nesting Cliff Swallows on the Rt. 202 bridge, the usual Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants and three Ring-billed Gulls, a species virtually absent from the area since April.

A Black-billed Cuckoo was on a wire this morning near the south gate of Pleasant Plains Road, Great Swamp NWR (Jim Mulvey). Is this a juvenile?

Black-billed Cuckoo, Great Swamp NWR, June 16, 2013 (Photo by Jim Mulvey).

An immature Mississippi Kite hawking dragonflies was reported over northbound I-287 just south of Morristown by Rick Radis today.

Yellow-breasted Chats continue along Pleasant Plains Road in the Great Swamp NWR and the Patriots’ Path section along Washington Valley Road in Morris Twp.

Great Swamp NWR

An Alder Flycatcher was reported on the south side of White Bridge Road, east of Pleasant Plains Rd. late this morning. One of the Swamp’s Yellow-breasted Chats was in the same area. The other Yellow-breasted Chat continues at the second speed bump on Pleasant Plains Rd. A Virginia Rail called near the overlook early in the afternoon.

An Acadian Flycatcher remains along White Bridge Road. Going west from Pleasant Plains Rd., and continuing past the Raptor Trust, go past the cleared areas on the north side of the road. The Acadian Flycatcher is in the section of woods that stretches to the White Bridge over the Passaic River. And, of course, Willow Flycatchers are numerous throughout the Swamp.

Morris Township

As of yesterday, June 10, the Yellow-breasted Chat is in the west part of the field at Patriots’ Path along Washington Valley Rd. A White-eyed Vireo (WEVI) was in the shrubbery along the grass path. The Whitehead Rd. WEVI was not found yesterday.

Great Swamp NWR

An Acadian Flycatcher continues on White Bridge Road, east of White Bridge. An Alder Flycatcher was heard in the field east of that (the former location of the Millridge Swim Club for those who remember but do not want to broadcast how old they are). In addition, a Yellow-breasted Chat remains along the entrance road to the south gate of Pleasant Plains Road (Simon Lane).

Washington Valley, Morris Township

The Brood II Cicadas are in full roar in the valley creating difficulty in hearing bird song in some areas. The Yellow-breasted Chat is still in the west part of the field at the Washington Valley Road section of Patriots’ Path. The White-eyed Vireo continues at the Whitehead Road section of Patriots’ Path.

Morris Lakes

Boonton Reservoir has 1 Common Loon in what appears to be a transition-to-alternate plumage state. The Cliff Swallows are nesting on the new Rt. 202 bridge. Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants are plentiful throughout the reservoir property.

Trumpeter “Don’t Count Me In” Swan, Mt. Hope Lake, NJ, June 8, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas).

Mt. Hope Lake has smashed the known record for Mute Swans at one location in Morris County with 185. The former mark was 149 at the same lake in 2012. The Trumpeter Swan, an alleged expatriate from the Bernardsville family that has been at Mt. Hope for weeks, was vocal as it floated past the goose-poop covered wooden dock. It keeps to itself and does not associate with the Mute Swans. Ruddy Ducks are gone. This is the first time in 2013 they were not seen here.

Black-crowned Night-Heron Update

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Chatham, NJ, May 13, 2013 (photo by Dick Plambeck).

It was mentioned in the post from June 3 that Black-crowned Night-Heron was yet to be reported in Morris County in 2013. There is an update. Dick Plambeck took the above photo on May 13, 2013 at Stanley Park in Chatham Borough. From Dick: “This may be the same bird we took a photo of last year at the same place on the little dam on the Passaic River and put on our Explore Chatham webpage. I had two interns working for the Environmental Commission last year to develop this webpage and one of them digiscoped it through his binoculars last year. I was able to get close enough to get the attached shot and several others without digiscoping.”

[Editor’s Note: I saw a BCNH at this same location in April 2004. This is not an easy species to find in Morris or Somerset Counties.]

Yellow-breasted Chat at the Great Swamp NWR

From Mike Newlon at the Great Swamp NWR:
The Chat at the second speed-bump on Pleasant Plains Road was heard but not seen (at least by me) this morning. An Alder Flycatcher was also in this area.

From Marc Chelemer:
I visited Great Swamp NWR this morning. The Chat was singing at the top of a tree in the middle of the field on the NW corner of Pleasant Plains Road and Lord Stirling Road (Whitebridge Rd.? – Editor) at about 7:15. I first heard it from Pleasant Plains Road by just driving very slowly with the window open.

Great Swamp was abuzz with birds this morning. A singing Rose-breasted Grosbeak was at the dogleg. A Blue-winged Warbler was just north of the Overlook. A Great Egret was flying. First year male Orchard Oriole singing right in the same tree with a quiet but observant Baltimore Oriole. On the way out, a Red-tailed Hawk was sitting on the wires just north of Lord Stirling Road, with a vigilant male Scarlet Tanager chipping warning calls to other birds. Very nice.

Alder and Willow Flycatcher Vocalizations

With all of the Alder Flycatcher reports this spring, the following web site may be of interest. It offers, in great detail, a comparative study of Alder versus Willow Flycatcher calls. Here is the link:
appliedbioacoustics.com/Repertoires/Passeriformes/Tyrannidae/wiflalfl.html.