Ron Shields of Kearny photographed this Osprey eating a fish dinner on March 17 of this year.
Jim Wright, who keeps this blog for the Meadowlands Commission, also writes a twice-monthy column for the South Bergenite. Here's his latest, on Ospreys.
For bird-lovers, there are four guaranteed signs of spring in the Meadowlands: killdeer, tree swallows, great egrets and ospreys.
The killdeer arrived near DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst in mid-February. The tree swallows followed suit two weeks later. On Saturday, March 16, came the first great egret.
Then, last week, came perhaps the best news of all. Photographer Ron Shields e-mailed me to say that he had seen his first osprey of the year – eating a fish on top of a pole on Disposal Road, not far from DeKorte Park.
Ron’s comment: “I believe that's a white perch on the menu.” [See the accompanying photo].
As far as we know, this particular osprey did not stick around. But several sure did last spring, including a pair that successfully nested on a nesting platform on Berry’s Creek along Valley Brook Avenue. It was the first time in several decades that ospreys had successfully nested in Lyndhurst.
The story continues below.
