John Beetham has a solid New Jersey birding blog with an unlikely name — "A D.C. Birding Blog." 
Click here for John's report. It offers some great perspective on Sunday's Lower Hudson count — which included the Meadowlands.
Click the button above for more information on the Christmas Bird Count nationwide.
We had said that given the dubious forecast, we'd hold the last Harrier Walk of the year if anybody showed up.
A birder from Pennsylvania braved the elements to participate, so out we went.
We'll print the full list tomorrow — highlight was a Barn Owl flying.
As part of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's upcoming 40th anniversary, the Commission's Parks Department has created this weekly feature on how local places, landmarks, and geographical features got their name.
During the eighteenth century Paterson Plank Road was literally a road made out of wooden planks.
The road was built by laying Atlantic white cedar logs end to end topped with cedar planks.
Can you imagine riding in a wagon or on horseback on this plank road? Maybe that's how the expression “washer board” road was born.
The wooden planks were replaced in 1909 with granite cobbles that are still visible in places today.
Do you have any suggestions for this feature? E-mail us.
For more What's-in-a-Name Wednesdays, click here.