Kevin Karlson Day is tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 21). Water levels in the Shorebird Pool are down, and we are getting hundreds of egrets and hundreds of small shorebirds — including White-rumped Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers. Seven shorebird species in all so far this week.
We are expecting a large turnout for this free event, so please bear with us.
Don't forget to bring your own lunch, beverage, sunblock and binoculars. Scroll down the blog for more information.
Dennis Cheeseman photographed this Warbling Vireo eating its lunch by the Kingsland Overlook Trail earlier this week. (Thanks, Dennis!)
Now is prime time for birding at DeKorte. The water levels are down so there's a lot of exposed mud, and the birds are coming in. We counted nearly 100 egrets on Wednesday afternoon, plus umpteen yellowlegs and and a few Semipalmated Plovers and Ospreys.
At 6:05 p.m. Wednesday, Mike Batard saw a Least Bittern from the trail and reported:
"From the easternmost window blind, saw a bittern flying
low across the water east to west, landing on Phrag island on left.
Stayed away from the reeds, clearly visible and exposed for at least 50
minutes, when I left.
"Four osprey hunting at the same time, alternately crashing into he
water. More than a dozen GBH and a few BCNH." (Thanks, Mike!)
The Marsh Discovery Trail is now open most of the way — the shot above was taken from a blind there on Wednesday afternoon.
We expect these conditions to continue through Kevin Karlson Day on Saturday and the entire weekend.
The butterflies and flowers aren't chopped liver either. Hope to see you at DeKorte soon.
A big thank you to the more than 40 people who attended our free Tuesday walk at Harrier Meadow. The turnout was great — especially for an August Tuesday.
Highlights included hundreds of Semipalmated Sandpipers, a few yellowlegs and Semipalmated Plovers, Ospreys, a last-minute American Kestrel, several Laughing Gulls and two Monarch caterpillars munching on Milkweed leaves.
Our next free walks with the Bergen County Audubon Society: This Saturday at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. at DeKorte Park with Shorebird Expert Kevin Karlson. (Scroll down for more info.)
We lowered the water levels in the Shorebird Pool at DeKorte Park this week in preparation for Kevin Karlson Day this Saturday. We are already getting lots of peeps and yellowlegs — and Ospreys that like fishing in the shallow water.
More info on Kevin Karlson Day — free and open to the public — is here.
Above, an NJMC naturalist closes one of the tidegates that helps regulate water levels in the Kingsland Impoundment, a.k.a. the Shorebird Pool, right outside the Environment Center.
Note: When the Marsh Discovery Trail opens this week, it will be open only part way. Because of extensive damage to one part of the trail, it is no longer a loop. You will have to turn around instead of walking all the way to the Transco Trail.
Due to repairs being done to the Marsh Discovery Trail, toady's noon walk has been canceled. Thank you for your patience. Stay tuned for further updates.
Reminder: A free guided nature walk of Harrier Meadow, a 70-acre natural area usually closed to the public, is tomorrow at 10 a.m. It will be around low tide, so we could see hundreds and hundreds of sandpipers…
Details are here.
The NJMC's Jim Wright wrote his latest "Nature Next Door" column for The South Bergenite on shorebird photographer Lloyd Spitalnik, who will be co-leading a nature photography workshop with Kevin Karlson this Saturday at DeKorte. The program is part of a day of free programs with Karlson, beginning with bird walks at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. More on the event is in the column below:
For the second year in a row, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission is sponsoring a day of bird walks and talks at Lyndhurst's DeKorte Park by noted nature photographer and shorebird expert Kevin Karlson. Best of all, the entire program is free.
The event, on Saturday, Aug. 21, also features an exciting new twist this year. In the afternoon, Kevin and another top nature photographer, Lloyd Spitalnik, are presenting a free workshop entitled: “How to Compose and Create a Better Digital Wildlife Photograph.”
