Monthly Archives: September 2010

Bird Fest 2010: The Full List, Plus Rare Banding Photo

IMG_1664American Golden Plover 1 The Meadowlands Festival of Birding had a perfect alignment of the stars this weekend — great birds and great birders (and, on Saturday, great weather).

All of this combined for some great sightings, including Whimbrel, Clapper Rail, Sora Rail, Golden Plover and more.

(The Golden Plover pictured here was photographed at Mill Creek Marsh on Saturday by Kevin Bolton, using a digiscope. Thanks, Kevin!)

The full list of 107 species follows (click below if necessary), along  with a rare banding photo.  Please e-mail us if we missed any confirmed birds, and we will update.

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More on Black Saddlebags Dragonflies

http://meadowblog.typepad.com/.a/6a00e553bb7c2088340120a57da002970c-piDuring our morning Harrier Meadow walk for Bird Fest, we saw plenty of Black Saddlebags Dragonflies, which prompted several questions about this stunning insect — including whether it and its winged buddies were new arrivals.

We replied that they have been around Harrier and DeKorte Park for most of the summer, and promised to post a link to an earlier post and more info.

The link is here.

Bird Fest: Great Day, Great Birds

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What can you say when the first pontoon boat cruise of the day turns up a  Whimbrel and Am. Golden Plover?

IMG_0339When the first DeKorte walk turns up Soras and other great birds?

When the Harrier Meadow bird-banding demonstration includes Sacrlet Tanager, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and warblers a-plenty?

The turnout was enthusiastic, and the weather was great.

We will post more pix and a full list in the coming week.

The event was run by Hackensack Riverkeeper and New Jersey Audubon Society and hosted by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

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Bird Report 091010: DeKorte

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IMG_0115A lunchtime walk turned up Northern Water Thrush (below), Spotted  Sandpiper (above), Peregrine Falcon (left), Semipalmated Plover, and Killdeer.

We also had the ususal suspects, including peeps, yellowlegs, egrets  and a few dowitchers.

No Sora sighted — perhaps tomorrow, for Bird Fest. IMG_0068
 
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Bird Report 091010: DeKorte Sora

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Julie McCall reports:
Spent some time out on Disposal Road and at DeKorte Park today, and
although it seemed at the time to be quieter than I expected, I still finished off the trip with around 40 species.

With water levels down in the Shorebird Pool in preparation for the
Festival of Birding this weekend, it was much easier than usual to find a Sora – I had one just wander out of the phrags about ten feet in front of me while I was trying to get a better look at a Northern Waterthrush. ull

The bird was seen on the Marsh Discovery Trail (MDT) after the second outdoor classroom.  [See map above.] Soras have been spotted several times lately.

I also saw a good number of Northern Waterthrushes today – at least ten or twelve, along the MDT and near the Lyndhurst NatureReserve. I also had Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Kestrel, Peregrine, and Northern Harrier.

Shorebirds included Dowitchers (Short-billed?), both Yellowlegs, and scattered groups of peeps.  The wind kept a lot of the birds huddled near phrag islands. (Thanks, Julie!)

Full list follows.

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World Trade Center Memorial Cove at DeKorte

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   DeKorte Park is home to the World Trade Center Memorial Cove, next to the NJMC Administration Building and facing a ManhattanEgret skyline that once prominently featured the Twin Towers. 

(Photo at right is from the NJMC archives.)

   The memorial features two wooden piers suggesting the fallen towers. Each pier is composed of 110 boards, each symbolizing a floor of the buildings.

Nearby, a steel silhouette of the pre-9/11 skyline recalls the view before the attacks. 

A plaque with the follwoing quote accompanies the memorial:

"In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing." — Robert Ingersoll.

   Click "Continue reading …" to see a time-lapse photo of the Memorial Cove at night, featured  on the NJMC 2009 40th anniversary calendar.

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Meadowlands Talk Tonight

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The NJMC's Jim Wright is giving a free talk and slide show, The Birds and Critters of the Meadowlands" — including the Monk Parakeets of Rudgefield –  tonight at 7:30 p.m. the Real Macaw Parrot Club in Paramus.

The public is invited. The club meets at Paramus VFW Hall, 6 Winslow Court, Paramus, across from Ikea on Rte 17.

Bird Report 090910: Mill Creek Marsh

Ray Duffy reports: "I was scouting Mill Creek Marsh for the Meadowlands Birding Festival on Saturday.  While passing the first fork along the paths, I came across a sparrow I am very confident was a Clay-colored Sparrow. 

"It was by a Song Sparrow and the color difference were very clear.  It had a well defined milar and a very obvious gray patch on the back of the neck.  It got flushed a number of times by joggers but kept in the area.  When I completed my loop it was in the same general area around 7:15 p.m.

Link to a pic is here. (Thanks, Ray!)

Bird Fest and Beyond

Jeff Nicol Avocet-1  

Birding at DeKorte will be showcased this Saturday with the Meadowlands Festival of Birding, but as the NJMC's Jim Wright points out in his latest column for The South Bergenite, the benefits of BirdFest could linger past Saturday.

His column is here.

   This Saturday is the big day for the seventh annual Meadowlands of Birding, headquartered at the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.

  It promises to be a great event, with programs ranging from guided bird walks and bird-banding demonstrations to pontoon-boat cruises and butterfly seminars. (To register or get more information, log on to www.HackensackRiverkeeper.org.)

   If, heaven forbid, you don’t have enough time to attend the festival or you’re just a very casual birder, I have a bit of advice. DeKorte the-day-or-so-after ain’t chopped liver either.

   You won’t be able to borrow loaner binoculars or get all those great birding tips from experts, but you will be able to take advantage of a bit of their expertise – just a day or two later.

The rest of the column follows.

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