For those who like to plan ahead, we are posting the schedule for our First Sunday and Third Tuesday free guided walks through the end of 2013. The walks are sponsored by Bergen County Audubon Society and the N.J. Meadowlands Commission.

Full list follows. Continue reading →

Mike Girone writes:

Spent late Sunday (8-25) afternoon at DeKorte. Started out on Saw Mill Creek trail by the Carillon and spotted a banded immature Peregrine. It had the black and green auxiliary band, along with a silver federal band.

After some stretching atop one of the towers, it took flight, soaring over the west end of the Teal Pool. It gained height fairly quickly, getting mobbed by swallows the whole time.

A brief walk out to Disposal Rd. yielded 2 American Kestrels hunting the old landfill, alternately hover-hunting, and diving at a young Red-tailed Hawk. Up to 3 Northern Harriers were hunting the area as well.

Returning to Saw Mill Creek trail, first 1, then 2 banded immature Peregrines appeared! They took turns forcing each other on and off the sets of towers while heading west to the Carillon and onto Disposal Rd. The impromptu pair was a male and female; the male had a silver federal band (possibly the same one sighted earlier in the afternoon), while the female had a black federal band, marking her as a NJ bird. During the antics on the towers, the female made a very low pass over the trail, allowing her black and green auxiliary band to be photographed.

A 70 and an N below it was enough to ID the bird as 70/AN, a female banded this past June at a newly discovered nest near Atlantic City! This falcon ended up chasing a duck across the Teal Pool, with both birds passing very low (less than 6 feet) across Saw Mill Creek Trail! Continue reading →

On Sept. 11, starting around 8 p.m., several folks are planning an informal, unofficial gathering in the Visitors Parking Lot in DeKorte Park to view the Tribute in Light in Lower Manhattan.

Roughly two dozen folks were on hand at DeKorte Park a year ago to see the twin beams of light that marked the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Most were there with cameras, others were there just to reflect.

DeKorte Park’s William K. McDowell Observatory will also be open that night for free public viewing.