Don Torino, who helps lead our free monthly walks with Bergen County Audubon Society, has a neat column this week in wildnewjersey.tv — about Skeetkill Creek Marsh and the arrival of Spring.

Don writes that "spring is a time of renewal when birds return after a hard winter, and the quiet shades of russets and browns turn to the reawakening colors of greens, scarlets, and yellows of spring. It is an extraordinary time when life begins again."

He adds: "All of us have some kind of spring ritual, whether it's cleaning out the garage or fertilizing the lawn. For me it is cleaning out tree swallow nest boxes at Skeetkill Marsh.

"It's a day that I can walk out into the marsh, get full of mud, and pretend just for a little bit that I am a kid again."

The link is here.

On Thursday evening, the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society are sponsoring a free walk at Laurel Hill County park in Secaucus to look for American Woodcocks as they do their springtime courtship display.

The walk begins at 5:30 as we look for the nesting Common Ravens and other local natural attractions. If you are on a tight schedule and only want to see/hear the woodcocks, please be at the park by 6:45 p.m. The walk should end a little after 7:30 p.m.

Our next Third Tuesday walk is at DeKorte Park at 10 a.m. on March 20, just in time to celebrate Spring's official arrival.

Full details on both walks follow. (And thanks to Chris Takacs for the woodcock photo.)

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Karen Riede reports that on Sunday, she and a couple birders stopped by the Ridgefield Nature Center, and : "A Mourning Cloak butterfly greeted us as soon as we opened the gate.  Later we saw an American Painted Lady."

We are posting one of our file pix of the Mourning Cloak in case anyone would like to see one for ID purposes– beautiful butterfly.

On Monday, there was a Cabbage White on Disposal Road (pretending to be a raptor, no doubt), and another one at Harrier Meadow. Spring is in the air.

Bruce Riede took this photo earlier this month at Skeetkill Creek Marsh in Ridgefield — after Don Torino had found it while cleaning out Tree Swallow boxes.

What is it? (Thanks, Bruce and Don!)

Marylou & Jerome Bongiorno reported finding a banded dead bird way out on the Transco Trail at DeKorte Park this weekend.

The band was white plastic, with numbers and letters reading: ITC 3362 IF 2011.

NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse has a good idea what the bird was, and is tracking down the particulars on this bird. 

Any thoughts? (Thanks, Marylou and Jerome!)

Every so often — usually near low tide — we bump into Michael Pagliuca of Bloomfield, a landscape photographer who enjoys taking pictures at DeKorte Park.

"I love the surface of the mud flats at low tide — it reminds me of the surface of the moon," he says.

When we asked him to send us a few jpgs, he laughed and explained that he shoots with film. So we talked him into letting us scan a few photographs, shown here and on the jump. (Thanks, Michael!)

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Want to hear (and hopefully see) American Woodcocks peenting and possibly displaying?

The Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society are holding a free bonus walk this Thursday (March 15) at Laurel Hill in Secaucus.

We'll meet in the ballfields parking lot at Laurel Hill at 5:30 p.m., or you can meet in DeKorte Park's visitor's parking lot and follow Jim Wright — he'll be leaving DeKorte at 5 p.m. The walk should end a little after 7:30 p.m.

We will also look for the Laurel Hill ravens and any other interesting birds we can find.

Directions to Laurel Hill are on the left-hand side of this blog.

Check meadowblog.net for last-minute weather updates. You will have to sign a standard liability release that is good for NJMC/BCAS events throughout the year.  To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-230-4983.

(And a thanks to Chris Takacs for the Woodcock photo above!)

Could be another great weekend for raptor action on Disposal Road.

Ron Shields writes:

"High winds Thursday had the Red-tailed Hawks kiting all afternoon on Disposal Road.  As many as three at one time hunted the side of the landfill. 

"In addition, a lone adult Bald Eagle was sighted flying over the retention pond on its way toward Harrier Meadow. 

"But the highlight was the late afternoon appearance of two peregrine falcons that, after buzzing a red-tail, put on an aerial display to the delight of all. 

"Harriers were nowhere to be found perhaps due to the windy
conditions.  All in all, this week has been very good at Disposal Road. 

"Needless to say, photographic opportunities have abounded." (Thanks, Ron!)

Two more Peregrine shots follow — worth the look.

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We have been asked by the state Osprey Project to chart our local Osprey nests on a new website, Osprey Watch (the link is here). You can help us by letting us know if you see any activity at the three existing nests  — or at a new nesting site.

Last year, three Meadowlands nests produced eight fledglings. The nests are located:

* in Carlstadt, on a radio transmission tower in the Marsh Resources Inc. wetlands — can be viewed via spotting scope from Mill Creek Point Park in Secaucus.

* in Kearny, on a small radio antenna by the Hackensack River Swing Bridge, across from Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus (below).

* in Jersey City, by the PSE&G Plant — best seen from the water.

You can read the NJDEP's 2011 Osprey Report here.

Save the date!  As part of National Moth Week, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon are pleased to announce that we will be holding the Meadowlands' first ever Moth Night on Wednesday, July 25.

The event, featuring nationally recognized moth expert (and New Jerseyan) David Moskowitz, will run from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at the Meadowlands Environment Center at DeKorte Park.

We will set up a mercury vapor light and white sheet to see how many different kinds of moths we can attract, and then set out to identify them.

More on National Moth Week here. 

We will be posting more information as the event approaches, so stay tuned.

Full information follows.

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