The female Bald Eagle nesting in Ridgefield Park is named Alice in honor of Alice Leurck, who photographed the eagle and her transmitter three years ago, and again last week (see photo above).
Thanks to Alice's original photo of Alice, we were able to trace her (Alice's the Eagle's) leg bands back to New York State.
A link to the post on the bands, including Alice's original photo of Alice, is here.
(Thanks, Alice, and thanks, Alice!)
NJMC naturalist Mike Newhouse called to report an American White Pelican at the Kearny Marsh. He saw it from the Keegan Landfill — hard to see from the Gunnell Oval at present — but Deedee Burnside and others reported seeing it from there yesterday.
(Thanks, Mike and Deedee!)
Trying to find something on the blog — an upcoming walk, a certain photographer's photos, posts on Muskrats, sightings of a favorite butterfly?
Don't forget that you can search 4.5 years of blog posts by using the Google search engine in the upper-right part of the blog.
Let the searches begin.
Sorry — didn't mean to scare you.
For an idea of what you might see in February, we thought we'd present some highlights from February 2012.
Feb. 1: Butterfly in February Is a Real Question Mark
Feb. 6: Smithsonian Magazine Blog: The Meadowlands by Train
Feb. 13: Laurel Hill Ravens
Feb. 20: Not Just Another Pretty Face (pic is above)
Feb. 24: Bird Report, Kearny Marsh
Feb. 25: American Kestrel on Disposal Road
For highlights from Feb. 2011, click here.
For highlights from Feb. 2010, click here (and think "Shrike").
The folks at DeKorte Park's Meadowlands Environment Center have a nifty array of late winter and spring programs on tap — everything from astronomy talks to bee demonstrations and up-close looks at hedgehogs and other live animals.
The brochure also lists the free upcoming walks through June that are sponsored by the Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission.
You can download your free brochure here:
(It may be just a tad slow.)
Remember the Bald Eagle that Mary Kostus and a few others saw on Disposal Road earlier this month?
Louis Balboa managed to get a great shot of the bird perched on a pole, and as far as we can tell, the black-on-black leg bands read 9 on top and V on the bottom. We submitted the info to the USGS Bird Banding Lab, and they have reported back.
The bird was banded as an eaglet on May 13, 2008, in Burlington, Conn., by the Connecticut DEP's Wildlife Division.
Jenny Dickson, Supervising Wildlife Biologist for the Connecticut DEP, writes:
"We always like to hear how our birds are doing once they grow up. 9/V was actually banded by my colleague Julie Victoria, a wildlife biologist who retired in 2011.
"It was banded on May 13, 2008, in Old Lyme, so it clearly likes a coastal view. He was one of two chicks that year (both males). This nest is one of our oldest and most successful nests and is still active (hopefully that continues in 2013!)" (Thanks, Jenny!)
USGS Bird Banding website is here.
Certificate from the USGS follows. (And a tip of the hat to Julia Fuhr, who commented on the blog that the black bands signified a Connecticut bird.)
Yesterday's Teaser asked:
A minute after we photographed the Bald Eagle on Disposal Road earlier this month, we photographed an American Kestrel 50 yards away. Anything unusual about this?
The answer is that the Bald Eagle is the largest diurnal raptor in the eastern part of the United States, and the American Kestrel the smallest.
Went with Don Torino of the BCAS to Losen Slote around lunchtime today, looking for the Crossbills. Although we didn't find any, we did see a flock of roughly 100 Common Redpolls (one is at left) way at the top of the Sweetgum trees back toward the meadow.
Later, we saw a Red-shouldered Hawk (above) fly in as well.
Mickey Raine writes:
"It was really cold [Sunday], about the fourth straight day of low temperatures. But at Mill Creek Marsh, the heavy winds picking up some of the chill from the iced over water as it whipped around, made for a particularly frigid outing."
"We were there roughly an hour before sunset, so the sky had cast a beautiful, rich blue upon the snow covered areas and the exposed icy water.
"As the sun began to descend …, the warm tones had blanketed the landscape, transforming the scenery into another level of beauty." (Thanks, Mickey!)
Ron Shields writes:
"We had another fine weekend on Disposal Road, with Saturday being much more active than Sunday due largely to the aerial antics of the resident female American Kestrel (above).
"In addition, the usual Red-tails continued their cooperation and an adult Bald Eagle provided a distant flyover each day. A Gray Ghost, female harriers and a Peregrine Falcon made brief appearances as well.
"No sign of a Rough-legged Hawk but the pipits were back again."
(Thanks, Ron!)
Two more pix — of the kestrel and a (comin' right at ya) Red-tail — follow.