Sorry for yet another Black Skimmer post but… Former NJMC Naturalist Don Smith found a Black Skimmer (above) that was unable to fly today near Laurel Hill in Secaucus.
   Workers told him of an injured bird that "looked like a Toucan."
   When Don located the bird, it was flapping its wings but could not get airborne.
    The Meadowlands Commission took the bird to the Raptor Trust in the Great Swamp for medical attention. We will update you on its condition.
    Other rescues included a Double-crested Cormorant (click here), a Snowy Egret (click here), and a Red-tailed Hawk (click here). 

  Our next Marsh Discovery Trail walk is noon tomorrow (Thursday). We'll look for the Least Bittern, plus Ruddies, terns, Black-crowned Night Herons and Ruddy Ducks.
   Meet at the entrance to MDT near the guard post at the entrance to DeKorte. Park in the first lot on your right after you enter the park.
   The walk is co-sponsored by the Bergen County Audubon Society. It runs roughly an hour unless the birds are really interesting.

    The Meadowlands Environment Center's Sue Lewicki gave us a heads-up that a Black Skimmer was working DeKorte's Shorebird Pool late this morning. We got this shot at 12:15. Two terns also fishing at DeKorte as well. Pic of one is below.  (Thanks, Sue!)

  Chris Takacs reports seeing seven Black Skimmers yesterday evening at DeKorte Park as they were "flying around the near pool of the Marsh Discovery Trail." That's the part of the Shorebird Pool closest to the buildings.
  NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse says that we should be seeing Black Skimmers sporadically over the next month.

   (Thanks, Chris!)

 
    When a tree service in Ridgefield was removing  a decaying cherry tree to make room for some outdoor exercise equipment for the public, they inadvertently cut down a branch filled with honeybees.
  Although the typical reaction to such an event would be to reach for the pesticide even though the swarming bees did not attack any of the workers, Ridgefield Environmental Commission member Karen Riede reached for her phone instead and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
   Did we know of any beekeepers who might come to the rescue?
   The short answer was yes –James Coppola of the Essex County Beekeepers Society, who has several hives by the Keegan Landfill in Kearny.
   Jim rushed to Ridgefield and rounded up several hundred bees.  No humans got stung, and the honeybees will be merged with another hive at a time when honeybee numbers have been in sharp decline because of colony collapse.
   Here's a tip of the NJMC hat to Jim Coppola for rescuing the bees, and to Karen Riede for making a good call.
   (Thanks, too, to Bruce Riede, for having the foresight to take the photos accompanying this post.)