In case you're planning ahead, here are some Meadowlands highlights from last June (click on the date to read the post):
June 5: Snowy Egret, Breeding Plumage
June 8: Black-necked Stilt at Harrier
June 10: Awesome Aerial Photography
June 11: Diamondback Terrapin Up-close
June 15: DeKorte's First Daylily
June 17: Silver-spotted Skipper
June 24: Amazing Cormorant Rescue
June 25: Exciting News: Partnership with BCAS
Dave Rotondi writes: "I spotted a Eurasian Collared Dove on Disposal Road [Saturday] morning, and thought I'd share. Have a great weekend."
(Thanks, Dave!)
If anyone else sees this bird, please check to see if it is banded …
Looking for a place to chill this weekend, like the American Goldfinches pictured above?
Might we recommend DeKorte Park, with its array of beautiful flowers and some pretty cool birds?
While looking for raptors that might be perched atop the electrical transmission towers by the Erie landfill, we looked up and could not believe our eyes.
Could it really be a fish, 100 feet out of the water?
Yes — thanks to an Osprey, no doubt — it could be indeed.
Just goes to show: You never know what you'll see next in the Meadowlands.
Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.
Each evening two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.
Pictured at left is the observatory's state-of-the-art telescope with a 20-inch mirror, housed beneath a retractable dome.
The telescope, one of the largest in the area, is equipped with cameras to record the stars and planets. Special filters block light pollution.
For detailed information and the complete June schedule, click here.
Bergen County Audubon Society writes:
"Mill Creek Marsh has reopened after extensive storm damage, so we thought we would schedule a field trip there on Sunday, May 30, at 10 a.m. We will be looking for shorebirds, herons and raptors."
The walk is free and open to the public. Directions to Mill Creek Marsh are here.
To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022.
"The last photo shows the wren with material gathered from the floor of the marsh. I will assume it would be used for nest construction.
"Also seen but not photographed was my first Pied-billed Grebe since winter.
"Calls from both coots and moorhen were heard sporadically from the depths of the reeds as well."
More pix follow. (Thanks, Ron!)
If you think you're seeing more Red Admiral butterflies than usual, you're right!
We had a half-dozen on the Marsh Discovery Trail at DeKorte in less than an hour last week. The one above was photographed at the Kearny marsh.
NJ Audubon's Sandy Hook Bird Observatory had more than a hundred last week.
But it turns out that Red Admirals are having a banner year a lot of places, including the Great Lakes and Quebec. (Thanks, Deedee!)
More on Red Admirals here.
