(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

The photo above shows a Common Loon performing the backstroke at Boonton Reservoir. The number of Common Loons diminished greatly from yesterday’s 40 as a mere 15 Common Loons were on the reservoir this afternoon. Only one Horned Grebe could be found. All of the Red-necked Grebes are gone.

2 Red-necked Grebes are at Lake Musconetcong today (Alan Boyd).

Not only is the Solitary Sandpiper at Glenhurst Meadows in Rob Gallucci’s photograph below the first for Somerset County in 2015, it is the second reported to the eBird data base for the entire state of New Jersey so far in 2015!



(Solitary Sandpiper, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, Apr. 13, 2015 – photo by Robert Gallucci)

A Vesper Sparrow is reported from the trap shoot area of Troy Meadows today (Mike Ostrow). This is the first Vesper Sparrow of 2015 in the mocosocoBirds region.

What is possibly the first Green Heron observed in 2015 in New Jersey north of I-78 was found at Loantaka Brook Reservation today by Corinne Errico.

5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were with 314 Ring-billed Gulls on Opie Road, Hillsborough Twp. early this morning (Jeff Ellerbusch).

From Barb Montague at the Wildlife Observation Center, Great Swamp NWR:

Seen at the Great Swamp on the boardwalk this morning:

Palm Warblers, a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

From Ken Hart:

Purple Martins are returning to the gourd nests at the Robert Stahl Natural Area in Bedminster.

The following photos by Chuck Hantis were taken yesterday: The Blue-winged Teal were at the Great Swamp NWR; the Greater Yellowlegs and Wilson’s Snipe are from Melanie Lane Wetlands in Hanover Township.

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