Marco Lips reports:
Too close to get the whole bird.
More calls were heard throughout the impoundment as well. A Least Bittern flew across the channel off the nose of my kayak and flushed again as I approached a second time. Too difficult to photograph though!
I also came across another mating ritual between two behemoth snapping turtles. Unlike last year's enpounter, this took place in deeper water and for a shorter period of time.
A Black-crowned Night Heron and Great Egret rounded out the day's trip.
More pix follow.
This Sunday, the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society are hosting two great free events — a nature walk at 10 a.m. with the inimitable Edith Wallace and other fine folk, and a Butterflies for Beginners Talk and Walk at 1 p.m.
More info on both events follows.
Richard W. DeKorte Park is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Please note: Vehicles that remain in parking areas past 8:30 p.m. run the risk of being ticketed or towed at the owner’s expense or locked in overnight unless it is a public viewing night at the observatory.
The Marsh Discovery Trail closes – and the gate will be locked — at 8 p.m. nightly. The trail may also be closed during and/or after rain because of slippery conditions.
Year-round
NJMC Administration Building: Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Meadowlands Environment Center: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Observatory: Public viewing hours are Monday and Wednesday nights. Check the Meadowlands Environment Center website for more information: www.njmeadowlands.gov/ec.
On Friday and Monday, we surveyed the three known Osprey nests in the Meadowlands.
All three, we are happy to report, are active.
At the nest in Carlstadt, we saw the female on the nest and the male nearby.
At the nest in Kearny, opposite laurel Hill, we saw two adults on the nest (above).
At the Jersey City nest, by the PSE&G generating plant, we saw one adult on the nest with two babies.
The Jersey City nest, the oldest of the three, played a key role in Tom Yezerski's new children's book, "Meadowlands."
We have seen this fairly tame pigeon hanging out in Harrier Meadow the past several days.
It has a green band on its left leg but no numbers or letters on it.
We have sent an e-mail to the Lyndhurst Homing Pigeon Club to see if they know anything about it.
Anyone have any other ideas what to do next?
Tuesday's Teaser is a Hermit Thrush. A little tricky because you can't see the whole bird.
Interesting to compare him to last week's mystery bird, the Brown Thrasher.
This bird participated in the NJMC's banding project earlier this spring.
We have included a photo of its beautiful rufous tail as a clue.
This bird may well have been Thoreau's favorite, although some think Henry D. was referring to this bird's cousin when he wrote: "Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; wherever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of Heaven are not shut against him."
Rose Duger of The Kearny Journal did a boffo article on Sunday's Kearny Marsh cleanup. Link is here, with pix.
NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse and Marsh Hawk Chis Takacs came upon a Glossy Ibis at Harrier Meadow this 
morning.
Chris had the bird again in the same spot at 1:20, and we had it there at 2:20 — briefly. We checked at 5 with no luck.
We will post here if we have a new sighting.
