Ron Shields reports that he took this shot of an adult Bald Eagle Tuesday a little after noon off Route 7 (Belleville Pike) adjacent to Kearny Marsh East.

(Thanks, Ron!)

Needless to say, this winter has been a great season for seeing Bald Eagles.

As the regional population climbs, we seem to see them more and more. With growing public awareness, more and more poeple are developing an eagle eye for these magnificent birds.

Other recent posts on Bald Eagles are here and here.

A link to a South Bergenite article last week on local Bald Eagle sightings is here.

To anticipate what we might see and when in March, we are publishing links to highlights from the blog last March, when Disposal Road was the place to be:

March 3: Sign of Spring: Killdeer, Disposal Road

March 5: Turkey Vulture, Up-close

March 17: Rare Irish Bird at DeKorte

March 25: DeKorte Eagles Plus

March 29: Greater Yellowlegs Are Back

Greg Gard reports from Wednesday:  "I saw a Rough-legged Hawk (light morph) around 5 p.m. He was working the landfill by the Disposal Road. I took couple of photographs just as a proof that this hawk is still around." (Photo above.)

"Also on the Disposal Rd. I saw, my first for this year, 8 Red-winged Blackbirds (one is below) and 2 Killdeer – in the stream, by the gate  No. 6." (Thanks, Greg!)

Can spring be far behind?

The NJMC's Jim Wright, who keeps this blog, also writes a nature column for The South Bergenite. His latest is on Tree Swallows. You can read it here:

March is a month of big changes in the Meadowlands.

The lingering snow piles and biting-cold winds finally disappear, you can taste the spring in the air, and some of our favorite avian visitors start arriving.

Ospreys, which have successfully nested again in Kearny and Carlstadt in recent years for the first time we can remember, should be returning by mid-month.

A few Killdeer have been seen already in Harrier Meadow in North Arlington, and Tree Swallows should start returning to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s parks and natural areas any day now.

The Tree Swallows are the real crowd-pleasers. 

“We should get a few of these beautiful little birds on the next really nice day,” says the NJMC Naturalist Gabrielle Bennett-Meany (right), who spearheads the NJMC’s Tree-Swallow nesting box program. “But early April is when they arrive by the hundreds.”

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Several people answered Tuesday's teaser correctly — the two Green-winged Teal on the left are American Green-winged Teal, and the one with the racing stripe on the right is the Eurasian or Common Green-winged Teal, not common around here at all.

Congrats to all.

At our talk and slide show for the Hackensack River Kayak and Canoe Club last night, we included a few photos of Diamondback Terrapins, which are thriving along the lower Hackensack River.

Someone in the audience asked, "What do Diamondback Terrapins eat?"

We basically replied: "We're not sure, but we'll find out."

We asked NCMC Naturalist Brett Bragin, who responded: "They'll eat Fiddler Crabs, small Blue Crabs, fish, snails mussels and whatever else they can get, including vegetative matter."

After the talk, someone reported seeing a man taking turtles from the river near Mill Creek Point last week.

Taking turtles out of the river without the proper state wildlife collection permits is illegal. The turtles are apt to wind up in the illegal pet trade or in a New York City fish market.

If you see anyone taking turtles from the river, please take a photo, get their license plate if possible, and call NJMC staffer Jim Wright, who will pass the information along.

Don Torino of Bergen County Audubon Society, who co-leads so many of the Meadowlands Commission's free nature walks, has a new blog post about Mill Creek Marsh, where our next walk is on this Sunday, March 6.

Link is here.

The William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park begins a new month of programming tonight with free public access at  8 and 9 p.m. — weather permitting, of course. (Please note the later starting time.)

Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.

Each evening at least two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.

For more information about free public viewing nights and to check out the observatory's new website, click here.

For a South Bergenite column by the NJMC's Jim Wright about the observatory, click here.

R.T. Geoghan photographed thsi Killdeer at DeKorte Park on Saturday. (Thanks, R.T.!)

Mark your calendars: The Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society are partnering on three nature walks this month — Sunday, March 6, at Mill Creek Marsh; Tuesday, March 15, at DeKorte Park; and Sunday, March 20, at Laurel Hill County Park.

Details follow.

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