Purple Finches and Pine Siskins

Looking out at the bird feeder, the only species seen are Purple Finches and Pine Siskins.

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

Hopefully, you are able to enjoy the winter finches that are currently gracing feeders in Morris and Somerset Counties. Pine Siskins are daily at a feeder on Kemble Mountain in Morris Township for 11 weeks. Purple Finches have taken over the tube feeder during the past week.

Sandhill Cranes in Montgomery Twp.

From Nancy Gallagher:

“My husband John and I spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes in a cornfield on Rte 518 in Montgomery Township. This was at 10:30 am Thursday morning, April 16th. The field is on the south side of 518, just east of Spring Hill Road. After a few minutes they both took flight, circling for a bit, then heading northwest for parts unknown.”

Other Field Notes

A Greater Yellowlegs and 5 Savannah Sparrows were at the Fish Tract, Florham Park this morning.

30 Wilson’s Snipe, 2 Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal and Gadwall are at Melanie Lane Wetlands.

A Common Yellowthroat sang briefly after dawn on Pleasant Plains Rd., Great Swamp NWR.

Several reports of Yellow Warbler at Great Swamp NWR signal the return of this species to Morris County.

There are many reports this time of year, too many to include in a daily newsletter. For further details and to see what people are seeing in the mocosocoBirds region, see local eBirdChecklists viewed via eBird’s Region Explorer. Use the following links:

The eBird Hotspot Primer is here and can also be accessed via the Hotspot menu item on the mocosocoBirds.com website.

@mocosocoBirds at Twitter is another communications stream. Instant field reports and links of interest are tweeted throughout the day. The latest tweets appear on the sidebar of this page. One can follow mocosocoBirds at Twitter or link to @mocosocoBirds.

Finis