After a long freeze, the tidal impoundments at DeKorte Park are thawing, and the waterfowl are returning to the impoundment by the Environment Center (above). It was still ice as recently as Wednesday.
Monthly Archives: February 2009
Seeing Stars, Owls, and Owl Star Clusters
A couple from Central New Jersey visited the Meadowlands this week in hopes of a fulfilling their longtime dream of seeing a Snowy Owl.
They stopped by the Environment Center, a naturalist took them to see the owl, and they hung around to see other raptors. They got an added owlish treat at the William D. McDowell Observatory.
Not only did they see their Snowy, but near DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst they also saw a Short-Eared Owl (above), the local American Kestrel, and Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers.
While at DeKorte Park, they met John Sloan, who runs the observatory, and stayed around for the free public telescope viewing hours (7-10 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays — and got to see the Owl Star Cluster.
Please visit the Meadowlands yourself — for the owls, the observatory and more.
Click "Continue reading …" to see a link to a photo of the Owl Cluster and more information about it."
Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin
Today is not only Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday, but it is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday as well.
Carol Feltes of Rockefeller University was nice enough to provide us with a host of Darwin links. Thanks, Carol!
Click "Continue reading" to see 11 links.
< Image at left is courtesy of IncWell.com – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
A BIT OF SPRING
The warm temperatures have really changed the feel at 
DeKorte Park.
Plenty of waterfowl are back, in time for Friday's Great Backyard Bird Count nature walk.
House sparrows are house-hunting — in the Tree Swallow boxes (at right), unfortunately.
A killdeer just flew over the Administration Building.
The bad news: Now when we see a large bird in the sky, it as likely to be a gull as a raptor.
We saw only one Rough-legged Hawk today, and only one Marsh Harrier.
Redtails a-plenty, though.
We'll have to see how long this premature Spring lasts…
BULLETIN: Lyndhurst Ballfield Entrance closed
Owners of the land that includes cul de sac off Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst — where birders like to hang out in hopes of seeing raptors of all sorts — have locked the gates, at least for the time being.
The owners want to cut down on the illegal dumping occurring back there, and who can blame them. The site will in all likelihood be locked at night.
If the gate is open during the day, you should be able to drive into the cul de sac and do some bird-watching — so long as you stay near the road and do not trespass.
If the gate is locked, you may drive over to DeKorte Park and park there, then walk (careful of traffic) over to the cul de sac.
NOTE: It is illegal — and often dangerous — to park on Valley Brook, and you may be ticketed by Lyndhurst police.
We expect to have a key to the gate so we can look for raptors on the Bird Walk on Friday.
Questions? E-mail us.
BLACK HISTORY WEDNESDAY: Underground Railroad
The Meadowlands Commission is honoring Black History Month with a weekly post on this blog. Today the focus is on the Underground Railroad in Jersey City. 
Runaway slaves from the South took were several routes through New Jersey before and during the Civil War, but those escape routes all had one thing in common: They converged at Jersey City.
By one estimate, as many as 70,000 runaway slaves escaped through Jersey City.
If you click on the map on the right (from the state of New Jersey's Web site), you can see the major New Jersey stops on the Underground Railroad.
More on Jersey City's role in the Underground Railroad here.
More about New Jersey's role here.
For a glimpse of slavery in late 18th Century Bergen County, click here.
And in honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday tomorrow, here is a link to information on the Emancipation Proclamation.
TUESDAY TEASER 021009
Can you identify this bird?
Hint: Is there any reason why we would run this bird's photo this week?
Click here for more Tuesday Teasers.
Click "Continue reading" for the answer.
REMINDER: DeKorte Bird Walk on Friday
We are kicking off this year's Great Backyard Bird Count with a free walk at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, followed by coffee, hot chocolate and light snacks at the Meadowlands Environment Center.
The walk begins at 10 a.m. outside the Visitor Center. We hope to see plenty of waterfowl and some raptors, and maybe a surprise or two.
Please RSVP to Jim Wright here or call him at 201-460-2002.
Click the Northern Cardinal for more informationon the count, and e-mail Jim if you get any great sightings in the Meaedowlands over the four-day weekend.
We'll post all we saw, and other sightings, next Tuesday.
Raven’s nest, Secaucus
Once upon a midday dreary, when we wandered weak and weary …
We came across this Raven's nest at Hudson County Park at Laurel Hill.
As birder Ray Duffy has posted, two Ravens have been seen in that vicinity earlier this month: "At Laurel Hill Park, I finally got the pair of Common Ravens. I'm going to assume they are the breeding pair because they were both hanging close to each other and I'm certain it looked like they were preening the back of each other's heads as they picked at the snow for food."
Don Torino also reports seeing a Common Raven — on Sunday on Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst.
An earlier post on Ravens is here.
As for the bad Raven poetry, nevermore.
Raptor update 020609
The area by DeKorte Park continues to be Raptorville, with frequent sightings of Rough-legged Hawks (the photo above was taken early Friday afternoon), American Kestrels, Red-Tails, and Northern Harriers.
Peregrines, Bald Eagles, a Cooper's Hawk and assorted owls have been seen fairly regularly as well.
That's eight or more raptor species…