Our "Focus on the Meadowlands" post on wildnewjersey.tv this week features:
* a "seedy" dandelion
* a Northern Harrier on the hunt above the old Kingsland Landfill
* a black-and-white shot of a silhouetted Bald Eagle that likes to perch on the old 1-E Landfill.
The link is here.
Mike Hiotis writes on New Jersey Birds:
"Northern Shrikes are now numbering close to handfuls in PA & NY. Here in our Garden State, the birds have not found any birders yet. I am expecting a report this weekend…" (Thanks, Mike!)
Disposal Road, anyone?
Mike Girone passed along this shot of a Harrier hunting the old Kingsland Landfill earlier this year.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Meadowlands Commission! (Thanks, Mike!)
NJMC staffer Jim Wright, who keeps this blog, also writes a column every other Thursday for The South Bergenite. His latest, about the yearly increasing duck numbers in the Meadowlands, is below:
First came a Northern Shoveler or two in Harrier Meadow in North Arlington.
Then a couple of Northern Pintail started paddling around the Shorebird Pool in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
Next came a small flotilla of Green-Winged teal, slurping up food in Secaucus’ Mill Creek Marsh.
While all of us were all busy with our autumn activities and chores, ducks have quietly invaded the Meadowlands again, joining our year-round resident mallard, gadwall and ruddy ducks.
If you are looking for another reason to be thankful on this Thanksgiving Day, consider: DeKorte Park is typically one of the best places to view these wintering waterfowl in our entire region.
Rest of column follows.
Patrick Carney writes:
"I may have seen the Eurasian green-winged teal last weekend when I went to Mill Creek. In the photo above, you can see the white scapular stripe. In photo below, it is lacking the white breast bar that the normal green-winged teal has. It was definitely different from the other teals I saw that day."
Any thoughts, anyone? 
Tom Yerserki's book "Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story," has been chosen as one of The New York Times Notable Children's Picture Books of the Year.
Tom writes that he has been thrilled and gratified by the attention the book has received, and that he is "hopeful for all the attention to our beloved, imperfect estuary and intricate ecology."
The link is here. Congratulations, Tom!
If you have not seen this book, what are you waiting for? It's for sale in the Meadowlands Environment Center's "Tideland Treasures Gift Shop" and at a book store near you.
Don Torino, who leads so many of Bergen County Audubon walks with NJMC, has a funny column on the wildnewjersey.tv blog — proposing a Field Guide to New Jersey Birders.
Link is here.
Greg Gard caught the raptor show on Disposal Road last weekend, which included Northern Harriers, Red-tails, and (here's the teaser) either a Merlin or an immature Peregrine Falcon (above). What do you think?
(Thanks Greg!) A few more shots follow, including the mystery falcon and a Northern Harrier.
We knew this was a bad idea when Dennis Cheeseman stumped us with this photo montage of Green-winged Teals last week.
He wanted to know what was different about one of the teals, and after we gave up, he said that one of the teal's eyes were closed. So we follishly posted it.
Our apologies. We blame Dennis. Clearly, we've been looking at too many teals for too long.
We do plan to post a genuine photo of a "possible Eurasian Green-winged Teal" tomorrow, along with a Tuesday Teaser involving the ageless Merlin vs. young Peregrine Falcon debate.
DeKorte Park will be open on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 24), but the Meadowlands Environment Center (and its restrooms) will be closed.