Dennis Cheeseman took these shots Wednesday at Mill Creek Marsh — Snowy Egret (above) and Am. Wigeon (below, behind the N. Shoveler.) Thanks, Dennis!

We know we can't compete with Wrestlemania in the Meadowlands on Sunday, so we thought we'd offer an equally exciting alternative — Wren-O-Mania at DeKorte Park.

This free two-hour guided bird walk includes a free prize to the first person to see or hear a Marsh Wren or Carolina Wren! (Photo of the Marsh Wren above by Ron Shields, from The Nature of the Meadowlands).

The walk will be followed at 1 p.m. by Bergen County Audubon Society's Birding for Beginners in DeKorte Park's Meadwolands Environment Center.

Details follow.

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Eagle Scout candidate Alek Corradini of Rutherford is working on several improvements at Skeetkill Creek Marsh Park in Ridgefield — including a new walking trail. He'll be working there again from 1 to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow, and he could use a hand.

If you can help out, call Alek at 201-355-6076. (Bring gloves and rakes and wear long pants.)

In the photo above, Alek was installing new Tree-Swallow nesting boxes at Skeetkill last month, with an assist from the Bergen County Audubon Society. (Thanks, Alek!)

Directions to Skeetkill follow.

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In Honor of Earth Day, join Governor Thomas H. Kean and Jim Wright of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) on Sunday, April 14 for a free talk on New Jersey’s environment, featuring “The Nature of the Meadowlands,*” the NJMC’s new coffee-table book written by Jim.

Also appearing will be Bob Allen, Director of Conservation of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in New Jersey, who will speak about TNC’s vision for land preservation in the Garden State.

The event will run from 2 to 3:30 p.m.at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Ave. in  Ridgewood. 

More information follows.

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Allan Sanford writes:

Tuesda night at about 6 o'clock I observed an Osprey on the platform west of the ball fields and north of Valley Brook Avenue.

I decided to watch for a bit. Shortly after this Osprey was joined by another. The pair then went hunting and then brought the fish back to eat. They then moved their eating location to a electric pole. They seemed to be very busy.

The pics are not the best quality but I thought they would be good for documenting their activity. One of the Ospreys went to grab some nesting debris and return to the nest on the platform.

Jackie and I thought this platform would remain empty because of all the construction going on. This is a good thing for the Meadowlands. I watched for an hour and they stayed very busy. You will notice if you've seen this platform that it was completely empty before and now has signs of life.

Thanks, Allan — we'll keep our fingers crossed. Ospreys nested one this platform successfully for the first time last summer. Previous nesting material likely blown away by storms.

Also Dan McDonough reports:

Spent 7 hours on Snake Hill on April 1 and saw an Osprey on the nest on the old swing bridge as well as the Raven chasing a Redtail, again, but then later when we were on top of the hill the 2 Ravens were chasing 3 Osprey as well!

Thanks, Dan!

More of Allan's Osprey photos follow.

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We have some tallies as of March 31 from the dozen folks in the Meadowlands Big Year for 2013.

Congrats to all for competing. We hope you are having fun near to home, and seeing lots of great birds.

Keep in mind that some birders are in the Meadowlands all the time, and others get here occasionally, so their birdage may differ drastically.

(These are unofficial numbers, and obviously change frequently.)

If you're name's not on the list, please e-mail Jim Wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov. It's still early! Sign up now!

Here is the leader board as of March 31:

           1. Chris Takacs:  98, (2012 reigning champion, ineligible for prizes in 2013 as a result, lives in district)
           2. Ray Duffy, 92 (in district)
           3. Mike Newhouse 90 (NJMC, setting a target number for competitors)
           4. Jackie DeMarco, 80 (out of district)
           4. Mike Wolfe, 80 species (out of district)
           6. Dennis Cheeseman, 79 (out of district)
           6. Jim Wright,  79  (NJMC staff, ineligible for prizes)
           7. Oliver Stringham, 67  (in district)
           9. Julie McCall, 73 (in district)
          10. Mike Turso 70 (out of district)
          11.  Roy Woodford 58 (out of district)
          12. Rob Fanning 56  (out of district)

Big Years Totals as of March 31, 2012

1. Julie McCall: 87 species  (lives in district)
2. Mike Newhouse 86 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors) 
3. Chris Takacs:  84  (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)
4. Ray Duffy:  83 (lives in district)
5. Doug Morel: 80 (out of district)
6. Ramon and Lillian Gomez of West New York: 79 (out of district)
7. Jim Wright: 78 (NJMC staff)
8. Roy Woodford: 69 (out of district)
9. Dennis Cheeseman: 64  (out of district)
10. Rob Fanning: 47 (out of district)

Saw lots of Monk Parakeets sitting by their nests or nearby today, unlike earlier visits this year when they have been mostly scattered.

This is a great tiem of year to pay them a visit. Directions are on the left-hand side of this blog.

For a different kind of shot of these birds (note how they perch), read on.

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Saw this Eastern Phoebe in DeKorte Park on Monday. Hopes it stays for Sunday's free guided walk.

Ray Duffy writes:

Last night, I saw two Osprey at Laurel Hill.  One was perched on the electric tower and briefly landed on the bridge nest.  A second Osprey flew in from the west, the one that was there flew out to meet it, I'm not sure if it was courtship or territorial dispute, there was a brief chase where they were obscurred by the bridge.  One returned to the electrical tower, the second continued flying east over Laurel Hill. 

Both ravens are still present at the nesting site.

I had 2 Wilson's Snipe fly out of the area where the Woodcocks usually call from.  I waited until about 8 p.m., when I turned on my lights to leave, I had a third snipe feeding on the lawn in front of my car.

Ray's observations of a likely  leucistic Am. Robin follow. (Thanks, Ray!)

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Roy Woodford asks:

“Who’s the Red-necked Grebe stalker with a 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC?”

We don’t know what Roy is saying exactly, but the person in the photo doesn’t look like a hillbilly to us. (There is a joke in there somewhere.)