The year 2010 marked the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's 41th anniversary and the continued expansion of our nature programs with Bergen County Audubon Society — including an Earth Day Celebration, a Kearny Marsh Cleanup, a Butterfly Day, a "Green Friday" nature walk, and a talk by Scott Weidensaul.

We thought we'd celebrate by looking back at 2010, month by month.    

Here are some November highlights:

November 5: Sunrise, (Closed) Erie Landfill

November 10: Male Bufflehead, Kearny Marsh

November 18: Scott Weidensaul Interview

November 22: NJMC Annual Report Online

November 26: Green Friday Walk

November 29: Fall Bird Banding Totals

Walking through marshes and snooping around landfills for 11 hours may not be everyone’s favorite way to spend a December Sunday, but it has its rewards.

Last week, I participated in my third Christmas Bird Count in the Meadowlands, and I saw all sorts of amazing birds.

(American Kestrel, right)

They ranged from a Common Raven perched on a pole on Chubb Avenue in Lyndhurst to bald eagles all over — in a Carlstadt marsh, a DeKorte Park electrical transmission tower, and a North Arlington landfill.

The Meadowlands Commission’s team of six, split into two groups, covered most of the major birding areas in the district west of the Hackensack River. 

We were once again reminded of how many great birds the 30.4-square-mile district attracts – even in winter, a time when folks tend to think most birds have headed south for some R & R.

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Ray Gilbert photographed this Red-shouldered Hawk on Disposal Road on Wednesday afternoon.

Ray also reports seeing two American Kestrels, a Merlin, an immature Peregrine and three Northern Harriers (including a Gray Ghost) in the Disposal Road area during his hour-long visit.(Thank, Ray!)

Good to see Disposal Road rounding into winter form.