The above photo is of one of three Great Egrets at Melanie Lane Wetlands this afternoon. 40 Green-winged Teal, 16 Northern Shovelers, 12 Gadwall, 2 American Coot and Wilson’s Snipe continue at this Hanover Twp. location.

The season’s first Louisiana Waterthrush in Morris Co. was found today in Rockaway Twp. (David Bernstein). March records of this species in both Morris and Somerset Counties are scarce, as in less than a handful.

Equally early, are two photo-documented reports of Palm Warblers in Somerset County: yesterday, Mar. 30, at Glenhurst Meadows (Robert Gallucci) and today at Washington Valley Park near Chimney Rock (Margaret Barbuty).

Many reports of Purple Martins come from the Great Swamp NWR this week. They, like many species, are early this year – usually arriving in the first weeks of April in the mocosocoBirds area. Two martin colony structures are in the Great Swamp NWR as of 2016: one at the headquarters on Pleasant Plains Rd. near the south gate and the other at the Helen Fenske Visitors Center.

Blue-winged Teal are reported from Mt. Hope Lake (Dan Brill) and Troy Meadows where 22 were seen (Roger Johnson).

An American Bittern was heard near the south gate of Pleasant Plains Road on March 26 (Robert Auster).

Ospreys, Barn Swallows, Pine Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Chipping Sparrows are among the species contributing to the ramping up of spring this week. Spring Azures, Mourning Cloaks and Cabbage Whites are some of the butterfly species being reported. One concern: if bird species are on an earlier migration schedule in 2016, will an early leaf-out inhibit May migration viewing.

View local eBird checklists in the mocosocoBirds region 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.

The mocosocoBirds Facebook page is located here and also posts timely information not found on the mocosocoBirds web site.

Finis