We’ve had several sightings of a Ruff at DeKorte Park this morning. As of 10 a.m. the rare bird for the area was spotted in the open in the impoundment near the start of the Marsh Discovery Trail. We’ll have more updates as we get them. Please send any updates and photos to brian.aberback@njmeadowlands.gov.
Thanks!
Dowitcher
Summer is just about over … I remember saying that to a non-birder friend of mine a while back. “Summer is over in mid-July because the Shorebirds are done nesting and they begin their long migration from the high Artic to South America,” I said with a big smile feeling very proud of myself.
My friend looked at me very sad and was depressed for at least the rest of day. She promptly went home and turned in her beach badge to Ortley Beach and began instead surfing the Internet for sales on winter coats.
But for those of us who love birding this is a great time of year, when flocks of thousands of Semipalmated Sandpipers can be seen moving through the marshes like one single minded entity controlled by unseen forces. Dowitchers, Dunlin and Yellow-Legs line the mudflats. It is one of those amazing spectacles of nature that should not be missed.
Meadowlands Moth Night is this Monday, July 25, from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at DeKorte Park!
The free event starts with a talk by National Moth Week co-founder Dr. Elena Tartaglia on these spectacular yet misunderstood cousins of butterflies.
Then it’s out to the park where industrial-strength lamps and white sheets will be set up and sugar bait will be used to attract moths for easier viewing. The event is part of National Moth Week. For more information, including some astounding facts and figures, click here
Many thanks to Joe Koscielny who sent in a series of incredible photos from yesterday’s Mill Creek Marsh walk. They are truly breathtaking. Great way to start the day!
For more on the walk check out the Celery Farm and Beyond blog here
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Yellow Warbler
Snowy Egret
Snowy Egret and Geese
Greater Yellowlegs
House Sparrow
Join the Bergen County Audubon Society for a nature walk at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus next Tuesday, July 19, from 10 am to noon. The marsh trail is a great place for birding, and they’ll be looking for herons, egrets, shorebirds and other birds of interest. If the tide is low you’ll be able to see the dozens of Atlantic White Cedar stumps that dot the marsh.
Park in the lot near Bob’s Discount Furniture at Mill Creek Mall. For more information email greatauk4@gmail.com or call 201-230-4983.
Regina Geoghan sent these great bee photos from DeKorte last week, including a colorful bumble bee on a purple coneflower and an Augochlora sweet bee on a coneflower. We need your help in identifying the small bee in the last photo!
Thanks Regina!
A horizontal format view of a bumble bee gathering pollen on a purple coneflower.
Augochlora pura is a solitary sweat bee found primarily in the Eastern United States. It is known for its bright green color. It forages on a variety of plants to feed on nectar first and then to collect pollen. It has pollen pockets on its legs.
A close up macro view of a bee gathering pollen on a purple coneflower,
Great story in today’s Record on the Bergen County Audubon Society walk at Teaneck Creek yesterday that stressed the importance of creating wildlife habitats in your own backyard. You can make your backyard a haven for birds and butterflies by planting native plants that attracts and provides food sources, such as milkweed for Monarch butterflies.
Read the story here. See how you can create a BCAS Certified Wildlife Garden here.
Ron Shields sent in these photos of precious baby Bitterns at the Kearny Marsh. As Ron says: I’m sending along some images of what baby bitterns of the Kearny Marsh do best which includes posing, stretching, fishing, yawning, sleeping, reflecting (the upside down pic) and hanging out with BFFs (the group shot).
A while back I was fortunate enough to spend a beautiful summer morning birding with some folks that are not only good friends but also expert birders. Every day that we are fortunate enough to spend afield is a day that we get to learn something new, especially when the birders are as knowledgeable as the people I was blessed to be with on this special morning.
As we deliberately plotted along as birders do,watching for any measure of movement in the trees and listening for the faintest of chips, calls and songs that would give one of our feathered friends away, it was not long before the birding debates soon began.
Due to expected inclement weather, tonight’s (July 13) open public viewing at the William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst has been cancelled. The next open public viewing night is Wednesday, July 20, from 8:30 to 10:30 pm