We saw the Horned Grebe at 4:15 this afternoon — lighting was dismal, but it was paddling around Teal Pool as usual.
The grebe has now been at DeKorte for more than a week. The higher tide, the greater the chance it could be almost anywhere in Teal Pool.
When we saw it today, it was near shore at the end of the peninsula in the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve.
For a project we are working on, we are looking for a photo of a Short-eared Owl taken in the Meadowlands — either a high-resolution recent shot or an older "archival" shot…
Please email Jim Wright here.
We had a great "First Day of Spring" walk at Laurel Hill on Sunday, with plenty of folks looking for some fresh air and nice looks at a nice assortment of birds.
We had barely taken out our spotting scopes when we were treated to nice looks at a Common Raven (left) and, a bit more distant, two first-of-the-year Ospreys.
We also had some nice looks at Great Cormorants on the Swing Bridge. In the photo above, one takes exception to a neighbor's proximity.
One disappointment: One of us had a distant large river mammal in the scope, but it was too far away to identify. We got a report of a River Otter that was hit by a vehicle in the Meadowlands last week — maybe this guy was one of the survivors.
Thanks to all who attended.
Full list follows, thanks to Julie McCall! (Some of us went to Mill Creek Point at the end of the official walk; Julie included those sightings as well.)
Environmental Writer Jim O'Neill of The Record did a nice story in today's editions about the spring bird migration, featuring the Meadowlands. The Record's Tom Franklin did an accompanying video interview with Meadowlands Commission Naturalist Mike Newhouse. The link to both is here.
A pair of volunteers from Bergen County Audubon put up 32 brand-new Tree Swallow nesting boxes at Skeetkill Creek Marsh in Ridgefield last Thursday — just in time for a new batch of tenants.
Commented Don Torino, "I had mud in my pockets by the end of the day, but it was great fun."
We saw our first Tree Swallows of the year in the Meadowlands last Tuesday at DeKorte.
More on the Meadowlands Tree Swallow nesting box projects here.