The above photo is of a fire siren in Ridgefield, which has been taken over for housing by the local Monk Parakeet colony.

We have not been present when the siren has sounded, so perhaps it has been decommissioned.

By the way, recent visits to the colony around 9 a.m. have been mostly unsuccessful. The guy who operates a coffee truck across the street says that the birds leave in the morning and come back around lunch.

Congrats to Mary Kostus for correctly identifying this as a Monk Parakeet nest.

Sunday's three-site guided walk — at DeKorte Park, Disposal Road and Harrier Meadow — produced a pretty nifty combined total.

The total number of species was 46, with highlights (seen by some) including Great Horned owl, Common Redpoll, Orange-crowned warbler and American Pipit.

We're not saying there were too many Red-tails, but we did think we were being stalked at times (above). Ditto with a Downy Woodpecker who tagged along with one of our groups.

The full composite lists for each site follow.

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What is this, and where is this? Answer tomorrow.

Sorry to say, we are running out of Tuesday Teasers, so if folks would like to send some in….  :- )

Looking toward Lower Manhattan.

Looking toward Kearny.

Our next free walk is Tuesday, Jan. 15, at Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus.

We are hoping to get our buddies, the Common Ravens (will they try to nest there again?), plus raptors, winter waterfowl, a Great Blue Heron or two, two kinds of cormorants, and other varous assorted sundries that we might see along the Hackensack River or above the marshes.

We might even throw in a little history about this amazing place.

Brought to you by the nice folks at the Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission.

Full listing follows.

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One of the new features we've wanted to add to the blog is the Monday Photographers Showcase, so we promote nature photography in the Meadowlands and the wonderful folks who take such amazing pictures here.

We thought we'd begin with a not-so-familiar pair of photographers — filmmakers Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno.

They write: "Happy 2013!

"We're Emmy-nominated, award-winning filmmakers who create cutting edge fiction, documentary, and museum installation films.

"Current focus of our work is on sustainability of cities – reducing poverty, fostering community, creating zero-energy homes, and preserving and protecting natural resources.

"The 3 photos were shot in all seasons in one of our favorite meditative spots – DeKorte Park."

The link to the Bongiornos' website is here. (Thanks, Marylou and Jerome!)

Photographers: Please send us your three favorite Meadowlands photos, tell us a little about yourselves, and provide any pertinent links!

Next time: Roy Woodford

Two more photos follow.

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Austin Mohr Writes:

I birded DeKorte and the Disposal Road today from 8:45AM to about 12:30PM.

The definite highlight and very unexpected surprise was an unseasonable Nashville Warbler that I observed loosely associating with a pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets …

My view was brief but very clear, and I noted the typical, distinctive jizz of this species including the fairly rotund shape and relatively short tail, the obvious, complete white eye-ring on an otherwise unmarked, clean gray head, the conspicuous, pale yellow breast lacking any streaking, yellow undertail coverts with unmarked, greenish wings, all characteristics clearly ruling out Orange-crowned Warbler or any other species.  Before I could get my camera attached to my scope to digiscope the bird, it flew off toward the Kingsland Overlook where I followed it but could not relocate it.

Otherwise, a thorough study of the gulls did not turn up any unexpected species for me and, unfortunately, I did not find any Rough-legged Hawks today, but DeKorte was still a pleasure to bird, as always. 

A good variety of waterfowl present included a nice count of 123 Canvasbacks in the large impoundment, which seems to be a reliable bastion of theirs as they are otherwise pretty scarce and local in our area

A nice variety of winter passerines was also present, including Horned Larks and a pair of adult White-crowned Sparrows along the Disposal Road as well as three Fox Sparrows at the Kingsland Overlook.

(Thanks, Austin!)

(DeKorte Park is open this week, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

We had an amazing turnout for our First-Sunday walk of 2013.

We took this photo in front of the Shorebird Pool at DeKorte Park at the start of the walk, and folks were still arriving.

So we broke into smaller groups and walked along DeKorte and Disposal Road before hitting Harrier Meadow.

Highlights for various sub-groups included Great Horned Owl, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Redpoll, Gray Ghost and White-crowned Sparrow. Not too shabby!

We saw so many Red-tails that they might as well have been Rock Pigeons.

A big thank you to everyone who attended — what a great group!

We will post a full list of birds seem by the group later this week.

Also coming up this week: All about our three free walks in February. Like today's walk, they are sponsored by the Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission. (Thanks, BCAS!)

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Don't forget: Our first free guided walk of 2013 is Sunday, and it an awesome triple-header. 

First we'll look for duckage at DeKorte Park (and keep fingers crossed that the Shorebird Pool has some open water.

Next, we'll check out Disposal Road for raptors (above) — and hope we get a Bald Eagle or Rough-legged Hawk.

Finally, we'll walk into Harrier Meadow to see what's hanging around. 

Waterproof boots and warm clothes are advised.

You'll need to sign a liability release, good for all of 2013.

You can download it here:

Download 2013 njmc-guided bird-walk release

Details follow.

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The Record had a story yesterday on the Junior Duck Stamp Art now on display at the Flyway Galery.

Here's the beginning of the story, and the winning illustration:

"Departing Through the Sunset" by Tenafly student Jae Yong Sung will advance into the national competition after winning Best in Show at the New Jersey Jr. Duck Stamp Art Competition.

The link to the entire story is here.