MORRIS COUNTY, NJ– A little marsh in Whippany had an uncommon visitor from the west today– a Eurasian Marsh-Harrier.
The Eurasian Marsh-Harrier, previously referred to as the “Western marsh harrier,” resides in open locations such as tidal marshes, emerging wetlands, meadows and farming locations.
One appeared in Morris County today, and was very first seen on Nov. 9 in East Hanover at the Melanie Lane Wetlands by birdwatcher and professional photographer Chuck Hantis. He had the ability to get some images and shared them on flickr.com.
Word rapidly spread out amongst birdwatchers on the ABA Rare Bird Alert Facebook page, leading some to take a trip in hopes of identifying the bird. Dave DeReamus of Morris County had the ability to see the Harrier and blogged about it on his page on ebird.org.
According to DeReamus, the Harrier flew overhead prior to diving into the marsh at 40.814969, -74.392999.
This types of bird types throughout Europe and northwestern Africa, in addition to Central Asia and the northern parts of the Middle East. It types in nearly every nation in Europe however is not discovered in mountainous locations.
According to regional birding specialist Jason Denesevich, this sighting will be a very first for New Jersey and just the 3rd ebird record for the United States.