Monthly Archives: March 2011
April Walks and Talks, plus Birding for Beginners
Wow, does the Meadowlands ever have full slate of free events in April!
With our partners the Bergen County Audubon Society, we are holding three walks, a talk and slide show on "Birds of the Meadowlands" by the NJMC's Jim Wright (who keeps this blog), and a birding for beginners course.
Full list of events follows. Save the dates!
Bird Report 032211: Laurel Hill
Ray Duffy reports:
"I visited Laurel HIll this evening before sunset but left before the usual woodcock display time. I found my first-of-the-year-for-the-Meadowlands Great Egret as two were perched on trees black-crowned night-herons roost in near the entrance of the park.
"I got my FOY osprey flew along Laurel Hill around 7pm and glided off. I was surprised he flew so near the raven nest and didn't pick up an escort."
(Thanks, Ray!)
Kearny Marsh Bald Eagle
Monk Parakeet Update
We dropped in on our Monk Parakeet pals in Ridgefield last week, and they are as boisterous as ever.
They appear to be using both the railroad bridge and the manmade nesting poles for housing — the special nesting structures were built last spring to provide housing while the bridge underwent repairs.
We counted at least 20, and there are no doubt many more.
Directions to the Monk Parakeet colony are on the left-hand side of the blog.
Tuesday Teaser 032211
Horned Grebe Update: Still at DeKorte
We saw the Horned Grebe at 4:15 this afternoon — lighting was dismal, but it was paddling around Teal Pool as usual.
The grebe has now been at DeKorte for more than a week. The higher tide, the greater the chance it could be almost anywhere in Teal Pool.
When we saw it today, it was near shore at the end of the peninsula in the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve.
Wanted: Short-eared Owl Photo from Meadowlands
For a project we are working on, we are looking for a photo of a Short-eared Owl taken in the Meadowlands — either a high-resolution recent shot or an older "archival" shot…
Please email Jim Wright here.
Sunday’s Laurel Hill Walk: The Full List
We had a great "First Day of Spring" walk at Laurel Hill on Sunday, with plenty of folks looking for some fresh air and nice looks at a nice assortment of birds.
We had barely taken out our spotting scopes when we were treated to nice looks at a Common Raven (left) and, a bit more distant, two first-of-the-year Ospreys.
We also had some nice looks at Great Cormorants on the Swing Bridge. In the photo above, one takes exception to a neighbor's proximity.
One disappointment: One of us had a distant large river mammal in the scope, but it was too far away to identify. We got a report of a River Otter that was hit by a vehicle in the Meadowlands last week — maybe this guy was one of the survivors.
Thanks to all who attended.
Full list follows, thanks to Julie McCall! (Some of us went to Mill Creek Point at the end of the official walk; Julie included those sightings as well.)
Meadowlands Birding Featured in The Record Today
Environmental Writer Jim O'Neill of The Record did a nice story in today's editions about the spring bird migration, featuring the Meadowlands. The Record's Tom Franklin did an accompanying video interview with Meadowlands Commission Naturalist Mike Newhouse. The link to both is here.