Daily Archives: December 29, 2008

EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL

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   With all the fuss over the Snowy Owl(s), another recent arrival has gotten short shrift.
   A Eurasian Green-winged Teal (Common Teal) is in the tidal impoundment across the parking lot from the new science building and observatory in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
   He has been a regular winter visitor for roughly a decade, and you typically can get great views of him when the tide is low…
   More on the Eurasian Green-winged Teal here.

   To calculate the tides at the DeKorte tidal impoundments, click here, look up Hackensack River, Amtrak RR, swing bridge, punch in the appropriate information — then add roughly 90 minutes…  Alas, low tides for the next couple of days appear to be just before dawn and after sunset…

PHOTOGRAPHING OWLS

IMG_8695    Several weeks ago, after a Snowy Owl was seen (and photographed) at Liberty State Park, New Jersey birders got into a lively debate about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of using flash photography when taking pictures of owls.
      Now that Snowy Owls have been seen regularly in the Meadowlands, the debate takes on a little more immediacy.
   We asked David Johnson, head of the Global Owl Project, for his thoughts.
   Here's the word: 

    "From a biological perspective, I would not think that the camera flash would be much of an issue," says David. "There is lightning where many of the owls live, and such a flash is very short-lived.  The focus should not be on the flash, per se, but rather on the general disturbance of people being close to the owl. " …

   Click "Continue reading …" for  more of David Johnson's comments on photographing owls.

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