Don Torino, who leads the "Birding for Beginners" classes for Bergen County Audubon Society and the N.J. Meadowlands Commission, has a new post on the subject for wildnewjersey.tv.

"From time to time with whatever we do in life, we need to reinvigorate
ourselves. It's easy to feel a little world-weary or to take things for granted
at times.

As veteran birders, we tend to search more for the infrequent visitor and look past some of the birds we have learned to love over the years. We allow the beautiful azure of the Blue Jay or the wonderful trills of the Song Sparrow go by without a second look.

"But I have a surefire way to bring back the same feeling of excitement and discovery that you felt on your very first day of birding.

"The answer is not in a new book, on a webpage, in a trial bottle, or a new supplement that you can buy on late night TV for $19.95. The answer is simple – introduce someone new to birding." …

The link is here.

Spent a chilly couple of hours on the Hackensack River earlier this week, and saw Osprey on their nests in both Kearny (below) and Jersey City — confirming that all three established nests in the Meadowlands are occupied so far this spring.

We also saw two first-year Osprey nests. Due to their location and the newness of the nest, we are not that confident that they will succeed in 2012, but one never knows.

In addition, we saw a brand-new, occupied Red-tailed Hawk nest just north of River Barge Park.

Along the way, from River Barge Park to the southern end of the district on the river, we also an adult Bald Eagle, a juvenile Bald Eagle (above the docks at River Barge Park), a perched Peregrine Falcon and Forster's Terns. A nice preview of NJMC's pontoon boat rides later this spring.

The third and final Birding for Beginners class is this Sunday at 1p.m. in DeKorte Park, followed by a free 90-minute walk along the Marsh Discovery Trail.

The topic this Sunday: "Field Guides."

Note: We are meeting in the Marshview Pavilion (not the auditorium) of the Environment Center!

Full listing follows.

Continue reading →

Our Meadowlands Moth Night won't be until Wednesday, July 25, but we thought you might want a preview with moth expert Seabrooke Leckie, co-author of the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America (This links to her website's info on the book).

Moth Night with Seabrooke Leckie, sponsored by the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmenatl Commission and National Moth Week, is Thursday, May 10, 8 – 11 p.m., at Cultural Arts Center, 721 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick.

More about Seabrooke Leckie follows.

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Marco Lips offered up this Teaser. What is it, and where? (We don't know about you, but we found the photo a bit draining…)

(Thanks, Marco!)

Taken at River Barge Park with a 200mm lens.

The park opens on Saturday, May 19.

Save the date! We will post more about River Barge Park Day soon.

In the meantime, here's a link to "Not Just Another Pretty Face, Part 1, photographed by Dennis Chesseman. Link is here.

Sorry to say, Dennis' critter makes this Turkey Vulture look handsome.

As promised, here's the full list of birds from Sunday's walk. Highlights included Forster's Tern, Osprey, Marsh Wren (heard) and three species of swallows. (Thanks to Denise Farrell for her help with the list.)

Continue reading →

Thanks to all who braved the weather today for a variety of events — bird walk, a couple of talks and a bird-watching for beginners class on optics, courtesy of Bergen County Audubon Society..

A few folks on the morning walk were quoted in a nice Earth Day roundup in The Record. The link is here.

We had 32 species on the walk, including a Marsh Wren, three swallow species and Forster's Terns. Full list tomorrow.

We have plenty of nifty events planned for today, rain or shine, at DeKorte Park's Environment Center, including:

10 a.m. "Rebounding Raptors of the Meadowlands": Slide show and talk by the NJMC's Jim Wright.

10 a.m. Nature walk as long as the rains stay away.

11 a.m." Butterflies of DeKorte Park," or "Rebounding Raptors" plus a funny short film.

12:20: "Meadowlands": Slide show, talk and bok signing by acclaimed children's author/illustrator Tom Yezerski.

1 p.m. "Birding for Beginners": Slide show and talk on optics. Bergen County Audubon Society.

1:45 p.m. "Rebounding Raptors" or "Exploring DeKorte Park" slide show and talk.

Bring a lunch and stay as long as you like. (Above photo by Ron Shields!)

Roy Woodford went looking for the Horned Grebe today and found a Pied-billed Grebe instead.

Writes Roy: "I did run into this little fella around the Ruddy Duck hut.  It must be my lucky Grebe weekend.

"These are full frame, no crop @800mm … he was that close." (Thanks, Roy!)