We had a great walk and cleanup Sunday at Losen Slote Creek Park. Highlights include great looks at a Baltimore Oriole and Brown Thrasher, a Scarlet Tanager (seen by some), Solitary Sandpiper and many warbler species.
The full list follows. (Thanks to all who participated, and a special thanks to Denise Farrell for providing the list.)
The New York Times recently published an article about an Osprey at Jamaica Bay NWR that was equipped with a GPS.
Says The Times:
The transmitter conveys a bird’s exact location, altitude, speed and direction at any moment.
The wildlife refuge at Jamaica Bay in Queens is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, one of the few urban National Park Service properties in the country, and the banding operation was spearheaded by the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy, a nonprofit group.
The conservancy, which paid for the transmitter, plans to start a new Web site, Jamaicabayosprey.org, in June to follow the bird’s progress.
Rest of story and link follow.
We have tallies through April for most of the folks involved in the Meadowlands Big Year competition.Congrats to all for competing. We hope you are having fun close to home, and seeing lots of great birds.
Keep in mind that some birders are in the Meadowlands all the time, and others get here occasionally, so their birdage may differ.
(These are unofficial numbers, and obviously change all the time.)
If you're name's not on the list, please e-mail Jim Wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov. It's not too late to participate!
Here is the leader board:
1. Chris Takacs: 110 (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)
2. Mike Newhouse 108 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors)
3. Julie McCall: 105 species (lives in district)
4. Ray Duffy: 100 (lives in district)
5. Doug Morel: 97 (out of district)
6. Ramon Gomez 96 (out of district)
7. Jim Wright: 94 (NJMC staff)
8. Roy Woodford: 85 (out of district)
9. Lillian Rivera: 84 (out of district)
10. Dennis Cheeseman: 75 (out of district)
11. Rob Fanning: 68 (out of district)
One question that arose in April was whether birds seen at Liberty State Park and environs should be included, since part of Jersey City is inside the Meadowlands District. We decided that since that area is such a distinctly different birding area, those birds should not be included. Sorry if this messes anybody up…
P.S. If any competitors would like to join Mike Newhouse for his daily morning bird-banding, let us know. You can reach him via Jim Wright at the e-mail address above.
P.P.S.: Denise Farrell of the Bergen County Audubon Society tells us that 84 species have been seen so far on our twice-monthly bird walks this year. (Thanks, Denise!)
Still time to join the fun! (Congrats to all!)
The Meadowlands has a Big Year for birders, so why not a "Meadowlands Little Year" for butterfly lovers?
The Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society are pleased to announce a brand-new butterfly competition to see how many species you (or you and your family) can identify in the Meadowlands this year.
Best wa
y to start is to pick up a free DeKorte Park Butterfly Guide at the Meadowlands Environment Center and check off the butterflies as you see them.
Surprisingly, we have already seen many butterfly species in the Meadowlands already this year. They like warm sunny weather, and we finally got some on Friday.
The individual and family that have found the most species by Oct. 31 will be declared the winners.
Their prize will be their choice of one of several beautiful butterfly-related prize from our Tideland Treasures Gift Shop.
Don't hesitate to photograph the butterflies you see. You never know — we see a new-for-the-Meadowlands species or two each year to add to our list.
Biggest rule of the competition: Have fun!
E-mail Jim wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov if you have questions/suggestions.
There's no telling how long the butterflies will hang around DeKorte Park, but a good place to look this weekend would be up on the Kinglsand Overlook Trail, where honeysuckles are in bloom and all sorts of insects are nectaring.
On the map at left, the purple. .25-mile line is the Kingsland Overlook Trail.
It is on the hill overlooking the Visitors Parking Lot, just inside the gate.
Let us know how you do…
Good luck!
After hearing reports of a Red Admiral invasion to our south and actually seeing some sunshine, I checked out Kingsland Overlook in DeKorte Park for butterflies this afternoon.
All I can say is: Wow. The reports were not exaggerated. I saw 50+ Red Admirals (above), at least five American Ladies, three Question Marks and — get this — a Hummingbird Clear-winged Moth (below).
Pix of Question Mark and American Ladies follow. (Tough angles.)
The Meadowlands Marsh Hawks, our World Series of Birding team, has nifty new T-shirts and baseball caps (it is the World Series, after all!).
This is really snazzy apparel, celebrating one of our favorite raptors (a.k.a. the Northern Harrier.).
The shirts sell for $12. The caps sell for $16. Both are available exclusively in our Tideland Treasures Gift Shop in DeKorte Park's Meadowlands Environment Center.
Rumor has it that your birding skills could improve by 12 percent or more when wearing this garb, but we are not so sure. Your birdage may differ.
Please let us know how you do with the new Meadowlands Marsh Hawks gear!
Don Torino of Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission's Jim Wright did a scouting trip yesterday in advance of Sunday's free guided walk.
A few quick observations:
* A lot of good birds are moving in, including Baltimore Orioles, Eastern Towhees and a variety of warblers. We even had several Solitary Sandpipers — and heard a Ring-necked Pheasant, not far from its ancestral home.
* The trails are very muddy (and partly underwater in places), so wear waterproof boots if you can.
* We didn't see as much litter as in years past, but we still plan to police the area and trim the trails, so bring work gloves and clippers if you've got them.
* The flora (including the ferns above) is going great guns, with lots of native plants to be discussed on Sunday.
Full list of birds follows.
Dave Rotondi writes:
"Two of the Jersey City Peregrine Falcons have hatched! The pair had a clutch of 5 eggs, so the next few days should be busy at the scrape. You can see the action on the state DEP's Peregrine Cam."
Link is here. (Thanks, Dave!)
