Greg Gard took all these warbler shots an hour before sunset last Thursday on Disposal Road. The birds were really moving through last week. (Thanks, Greg!)
More follow.
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Common Buckeye, DeKorte Park
Regina Geoghan got this shot of a Common Buckeye at the Jill Ann Ziemkiewicz Memorial Butterfly Garden at DeKorte yesterday afternoon.
Beautiful butterfly, still around at a time we are seeing mostly Monarchs, sulphurs and Cabbage Whites… (Thanks, Regina!)
Columbus Day DeKorte Park Advisories
The Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park will be closed Monday, Oct. 10, for Columbus Day. Additionally, there will be no restroom access due to maintenance repairs.
The McDowell Observatory will be open the usual hours for the free public viewing schedule on Monday night.
American Kestrel Show
Greg Gard reports:
“I’m attaching a couple of photographs I’ve taken last Sunday afternoon during a short visit to DeKorte Park. All were taken along the Disposal Rd.” (Thanks, Greg!)
Banded Northern Harrier: Amazing Looks
Last week, a Northern Harrier chased a Palm Warbler into one of the N.J. Meadowlands Commission's mist net. NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse, who runs the commission's bird-banding research, and his crew of volunteers banded the bird and allowed us to take several close-ups of this charismatic bird.
We thought we would share a few here. We will show more at the Montclair Bird Club next week. More details are here.
In case you are wondering, this first-year bird had a wing length of 320mm. The weight was literally off the scales.
More photos follow.
New Jersey Eagle Population Is Up!
The Conserve Wildlife Foundation reports: "A total of 111 eagle pairs were monitored. Of these, 95 were active — which means that they laid eggs. Seventy-one of these were successful in producing the 118 fledges. This is especially good news after 2010′s less than stellar nesting season where only 69 young chicks fledged."
Link is here.
Next Wednesday: ‘Birds of the Meadowlands’ Talk
Jim Wright, who runs this blog for the N.J. Meadowlands Commission, will give a free talk and slide show entitled "The Birds of the Meadowlands" next Wednesday night at the regular meeting of the Montclair Bird Club.
He'll also show photos of River Barge Park, the NJMC's awesome new 5.5-acre park on the Hackensack River in Carlstadt.
The talk is open to the public. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at Union Congregational Church, Upper Montclair, and the talk should begin at 8. E-mail Jim using the link in the left-hand column of this blog.
Our Latest Post on wildnewjersey.tv
Our latest "Focus on the Meadowlands" post on wildnewjersey.tv features a close-up of a Northern Harrier's eye (taken at the N.J. Meadowlands Commission's bird-banding station, a preview of the NJMC's soon-to-open riverside park and launch ramp, plus a shot of an Osprey chowing down on a fish.
Link is here. We will be posting an array of close-ups of this stunning young harrier this Friday on this blog.
Sunday’s Harrier Meadow Bonus Walk: The List
We had a quick bonus walk on Sunday to Harrier Meadow to see the American Avocet — at that point it had been there for 35 days. We got nice looks at the avocet (above, photographed on Sunday), and saw plenty of other birds, including three Bald Eagles.
When we told one birder/photographer who was intent on the a that an adult Bald eagle was soaring directly above, her replied: "To heck with the eagle — we've got an avocet here."
We believe that's call an embarrassment of riches.
The walk was sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society.
(P.S.: The avocet is still there.)
Full list is below.
Teaser Answered
The butterfly is an American Snout.