Don Torino's latest blog post for wildnewjersey.tv can be found here.
Don leads many walks for Bergen County Audubon's partnership with the Meadowlands Commission, and his columns are always first-rate.
Daily Archives: June 3, 2011
Don’t Forget: Kearny Marsh Cleanup This Sunday!
Please help! As part of National Trail Day Weekend, the N.J. Meadowlands Commission, Bergen County Audubon Society, and the Northern New Jersey Cachers are sponsoring a two-hour cleanup of the Kearny Marsh.
We plan to clean and trim the marsh's trail by foot and clean the marsh by canoe. All are welcome to participate.
The cleanup begins at the northeast corner of the Gunnell Oval off Schuyler Avenue at 10 a.m. (directions are on the left-hand column of this blog).
The NJMC is supplying trash bags and water, but bring your own weed clippers and gloves.
We’ll also provide canoes, paddles and life jackets.
Bird Report for Weekend
Mike Gempp reports:
There's really not much shorebird activity over the last week or so, and since the Moorhen has flown the coop, there's not much to see on the Discovery Trail. The water level is low, but it hasn't helped the birding. Just a few highlights from Memorial Day to now:
Mill Creek:
Peregrines often hunt from a stoop, but this one came in flying horizontally low and stealthily and ambushed a few Lesser Yellowlegs that were sitting on a cedar stump. I had scanned the stumps beforehand and saw nothing but sea gulls, but the falcon had better eyesight than me. The birds did not see it coming either, and didn't even have time to scatter. One was seized instantly and carried off westward in the general direction of the RT. 3 bridge.
I saw a Snapping Turtle actively digging out a nest, and also saw some other freshly turned ground along the trail in several other places. I marked the nest site, though I will not disturb it. I just want to watch and see what happens.
Disposal Road:
Eastern Kingbird, Yellow Warbler.
Clay Ave:
Cedar Waxwing.
DeKorte Park:
Look for a Blue Grosbeak near the entrance to The Disc. Trail, where I saw one early Wednesday evening.
There are lots of biting flies and no-see-ums happy to drink your blood, so don't go anywhere this time of year without repellent. I've spent the last week with itchy legs.
(Thanks, Mike!)