Next Tuesday night, Sept. 11, a few folks are planning an informal, unofficial gathering in the Visitors Parking Lot at DeKorte to look at the Twin Beams of Light in Lower Manhattan.

Mike Maddaloni, who specializes in sunset shots (see above), writes:

"Thursday night I stayed a bit after dark, chatting with a few other photogs, and lo and behold I saw a sliver of light in the sky.

"We waited until it got darker, and sure enough they were testing the beams; they seemed a bit duller than usual so I'm holding out till Tuesday for a proper shoot. But I was able to test it last night, and with the still water from the parking area, its a GREAT spot, reflection in the water, the turnpike really doesn't do much damage to the shot.

"The only thing is the weather. Thursday night was VERY clear so the beams were reaching to space! But if it's hazy/cloudy (like it's predicted to be), we might not even see them from DeKorte, which happened to me last year.

"Either way, I'm looking forward to gathering with whoever wants for as
long as we're permitted Tuesday night."  (Thanks, Mike!)

We now have tallies through August for the folks involved in the Meadowlands Big Year competition.

Congrats to all for competing. We hope you are having fun close to home, and we hope you are seeing new species again now that the fall migration is in full swing.

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!

The leader board as of August 31 follows below (just to heighten the suspense).  Also posting the standings as of June 30 below…

1. Chris Takacs:  174  (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)
2. Mike Newhouse 173 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors)
3. Ray Duffy:  158 (lives in district)  
4. Julie McCall: 142 species  (lives in district)
5. Doug Morel: 141 (out of district)
6. Ramon Gomez 143 (out of district)
7. Jim Wright: 131 (NJMC staff)
8. Dennis Cheeseman: 128  (out of district)
9. Roy Woodford: 119 (out of district)
10.Rob Fanning: 112 (out of district)
11. Lillian Rivera: 109 (out of district)
     

The leader board as of July 31

      1. Chris Takacs:  165  (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)
       2. Mike Newhouse 164 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors)
       3. Ray Duffy:  149 (lives in district) 
       4. Julie McCall: 137 species  (lives in district)
       5. Doug Morel: 137 (out of district)
       6. Ramon Gomez 136 (out of district)
       7. Jim Wright: 125 (NJMC staff)
       8. Roy Woodford: 113 (out of district)
       9. Dennis Cheeseman: 126  (out of district)
      10.Rob Fanning: 105 (out of district)
      11. Lillian Rivera: 102 (out of district)

The NJMC's Katy Weidel writes that a new paddle map of the Hackensack River estuary is now posted at River Barge Park in Carlstadt and at Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus.

It's a great resourse for anyone paddling on the river. 

We'll try to get a pdf of the map and make it available for download on the blog.

Just what everyone has been waiting for: the Meadowlands Big Year totals as of Aug. 31.

The race for the most species for 2012 is too close to call.

We'll post the list tomorrow morning.  Thanks to all who are participating!

Ray Duffy phoned to say he had many warblers in Schmidt's Woods in Secaucus this morning, including Hooded, Northern parula, Black-and-white, and Redstart, plus a Great Crested Flycatcher and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. (Thanks, Ray!)

Directions to Schmidt's Wood are on the left-hand side of this blog.

Thanks again to all who attended our "Back to Football"/First-Sunday walk at DeKorte Park this past weekend.

Everyone seemed to have a great time, and a few eagle-eyed participants went home with some very nice door prizes supplied by the national Football League — including two helmets autographed by Colts rookie QB Andrew Luck.

A link to a photo gallery of the event from The Jersey Journal is here.

The full list of the 35 birds seen on the walk follows. (Thanks to Julie McCall and Denise Farrell!)

Continue reading →

Roy Woodford writes:

"Keep you eye out on Valley Brook Ave … I've seen a young Red-tailed Hawk several times recently hanging around the road side.  

"This young guy was terribly cooperative on Sunday afternoon.  He just sat and posed for several dozen portraits … He didn't seem to care that I was about 30 feet away." (Thanks, Roy!)

We just saw the DirecTV blimp flying over lower Manhattan on its way to the Meadowlands.

What's going on? Is there a bird walk tonight that we don't know about? :- )

Just getting caught up on a vacation's worth of e-mails. Sorry for not being more timely…

Patrick Carney writes:

"I saw a Black-and-White Warbler at DeKorte [Saturday]. He was near the entrance to what I believe is the Teal Pool, pulling bugs out from under the bark of the Paper Birches."  (Thanks, Patrick!)

Here's your chance to attend a free screening of the acclaimed new documentary film, "The Lost Bird Project,"about the stories of five birds driven to extinction in modern times and sculptor Todd McGrain’s project to memorialize them.

The event is on Thursday, Sept. 13,  from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

The Meadowlands Commission, Bergen County Audubon Society, Ramapo College and the New Jersey chapter of The Nature Conservancy are proud to sponsor this special screening, along with a question-and-answer session afterward.

More information follows.

Continue reading →