The Meadowlands is a prime destination for foraging egrets that have colonized South Brother Isand in the east River. That fact was underscored in late July when Lorraine Novinski was taking one of her regular bird counts for the Harbor Herons survey.

Lorraine noted a Snowy Egret that had been banded on South Brother. When NYC Audubon heard of the sighting, it sent reseracher Liz Craig (above) to the site to see if she could find the banded Snowy as well.

She did not see the Snowy, but she held up a large antenna and picked up the signal from a Great Egret that had been equipped with miniature radio transmitter at South Brother Island in June. We recorded what the transmitted signal sounds like, for those who are curious. Just run your cursor over the lefthand side of the dark gray bar below.

Recording of Egret w/Transmitter Summer 2010

Sandy Sorkin saw a Sora (albeit a distant one, second from left) this morning on a Phrag island near the beginning of the Marsh Discovery Trail at DeKorte Park.

Below is a map to give you an idea of where it was. They have also been seen at Phrag's edge near the start of the trail. Your results may differ. (Orange line is the MDT, black dot is the trail entrance.)  (Thanks, Sandy!)

For this weekend's Bird Fest, the Meadowlands Commission's Brett Bragin has lowered the water level in the Shorebird Pool at DeKorte Park.

The water level is now a few inches lower than it was for Kevin Karlson Day last month and — barring any heavy rains — it should remain thereabouts through the weekend.

[We have already gotten reports of two Sora sightings this morning from the Marsh Discovery Trail.]

We should get more shorebirds overall but when it is high tide nearby, the new mudflats at the Shorebird Pool should be particularly attractive.

In case you are wondering, high tide Thursday is around 1 p.m. High tide Friday is around 2 p.m. High tide for Bird Fest is around 3 p.m.

A Digiscoping Workshop with photographer Kevin Bolton has been added to the Sunday schedule for this weekend's Meadowlands Festival of Birding.

The workshop will be held at the Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

According to Kevin, digiscoping is the joining of a compact digital camera or DSLR to a spotting scope, allowing you to turn your scope into a camera lens and take full-frame still photos and video from a distance.

You can register by calling 201-968-0808; or in person at the Hackensack Riverkeeper booth on Saturday, Sept. 11. Don’t miss it!

TIP: Bring a 2GB SD memory chip to record your workshop photos.

Check out http://jerseydigiscoping.blogspot.com/ for some of Kevin’s work.