Dennis Cheeseman, who took the above photo, asks: "Where is this?"  Thanks, Dennis! 

Not to be missed. (Another kind of swallow at West Hudson Park!)

This sparrow is significant because it was the subject of the first Teaser ever, posted on Labor Day 2008.

Oh, you want to know what kind of sparrow?  We believe it is a young Song Sparrow.  (Did not see that coming, did you?)  Fortunately, the 4.5 years of Tuesday Teasers since then have been for the most part easier.

Thanks to all who offered IDs, and to all who have followed the Teasers over the years.

Allan Sanford shared these photos of an Osprey fishing at DeKorte Park last Friday — with One World Trade Center for a backdrop.  

One more photo follows. Thanks, Allan!

Continue reading →

We received several Red-necked Grebe sightings at West Hudson Park yesterday — thanks, everyone. 

Mike Turso sent in this shot –will try to post Roy Woodford's pix of it diving later.  (Thanks, Mike!)

Dennis Cheeseman says the Grege was still at the park as of lunchtime today

Today's featured photographer is Greg Miller.

Greg writes:

In spite of growing up in North Arlington & living presently in Clifton, I didn't really "discover" The Meadowlands until about 5 years ago when I got into Birding.

My first trip over was to see a Snowy Owl. I was amazed to be able to find a bird like that here & it really sparked my interest in the area.

Since then I've grown to love the diversity that can be seen all around the Meadowlands & it's all all within sight of  major urban sprawl!

Also love the seasonality. It kind of serves as my natural calendar with the arrival of the Swallows in Spring, the Butterlies & Moths in summer, the Shorebirds in fall, & the Ducks & Raptors in winter. I do bird all over the state but always find myself coming back here & consider it my "backyard."

My Flickr page is www.flickr.com/photos/stitch1958/ . (Thanks, Greg!)

Two more of Greg's photos — of a wren and a Tree Swallow — follow.

Continue reading →

Ron Shields writes:

Friday afternoon, I read on New Jersey Birding of a grebe sighting in Kearny.

I assumed the location of the bird to be the Kearny Marsh, however, it turned out to be West Hudson Park.

Since the pond sits next to our high school, I took a few students on a short field trip.

We located the grebe easily and it afforded extremely close looks.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled and excited to take part in this "live" biology lesson.  The bird was still present at dusk.

Thanks, Ron!

Marco Van Brabant sent in these two Google Earth shots of the Kearny Marsh, before and after Hurricane Sandy.  "X" marks the bench by Gunnell Oval. (Thanks, Marco!)

Trying to find something on the blog — an upcoming walk, a certain photographer's photos, posts on Harbor Seals, or 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 this blog.

Let the searches begin.

SOY: "Second of the year."   Eating fish for Lent.  (Thanks, Ron!)