The NJMC's Jim Wright, who keeps this blog, also writes a nature column twice a month for the South Bergenite. His latest is on the Meadowlands Marsh Hawks team and their big competition this weekend:
This Saturday, before the crack of dawn, the Meadowlands Marsh Hawks will again take flight, competing for the third year in a row in the prestigious World Series of Birding.
The one-day event takes place only in New Jersey yet it draws some of the best birders in North America. The Marsh Hawks will again compete in the “county” division, with a goal of seeing 140 species in Bergen County.
Last year, the Marsh Hawks — NJMC naturalist Mike Newhouse, Lyndhurst resident Chris Takacs and Mike Wolfe of Hackensack — won first place in their division with a total of 139 birds.
The birds they saw or heard included such rarities as — horned grebe, clapper rail and pileated woodpecker, but they did not see a Black-capped Chickadee. Go figure.