Who’s this sparrow?

To give you an added incentive, we are offering a prize to the person who correctly identifies the most Tuesday Teasers in October and November. (In the case of a tie, the winner’s name will be drawn from a cap.)

The prize? Rick Wright of WINGS Birding Tours is graciously donating a copy of “The Warbler Guide” by Tom Stephenson and Scott Whittle. (Thanks, Rick!)

There will be nine total weeks of Teasers, some easy, some tough. Please e-mail your bird-ID to Jim Wright each Tuesday by midnight (just click” e-mail us” in the right-hand column of this blog). IDs received after midnight will not be counted. Also, the “comments” section of the Teaser will be closed so no one can post their answer.  (Just trying to be fair.)

Each Monday, we post the upcoming events for the Meadowlands through the upcoming weekend.

This week’s events are a free guided nature walk in Little Ferry’s Losen Slote Park on Tuesday morning and a program on bats, spiders and snakes at the MEC next Sunday afternoon.

Details follow.

Continue reading →

Valerie Knipping writes:

Jim Wright will present a free talk and slideshow about “The Nature of the Meadowlands,” the book he did for the N.J. Meadowlands Commission, next Thursday night (Oct. 17) at 7 at the Westfield Memorial Library, 550 East Broad Street, Westfield, NJ.

For more information, call  (908) 789-4090 or click here.

DeKorte Park is open from 8 a.m. to dusk on Monday, Oct. 14, a state holiday. The Meadowlands Environment Center (restrooms, gift shop, Flyway Gallery) is closed.  The observatory is closed as well.

Regina Geoghan, who shares many of her terrific butterfly images and landscapes with this blog, has a nifty article about the Meadowlands’ comeback on wildnewjersey.tv.

Here’s a sample:

“Each visit is a new adventure – depending on the season, the time of day, the weather, and the unique character of each park.  One might opt to visit River Barge Park along the Hackensack River for paddling or a pontoon ride, or visit one of several other parks for a hike through wetlands or woodland, guided bird watching and nature walks, or a variety of educational events held at the Meadowlands Environmental Center in Lyndhurst.

“Sometimes, I find myself alone on a trail; while other times I meet birders, photographers, joggers or folks simply out to enjoy what nature has to offer.  While the visits to these parks can indeed feel magical, the restoration of the Meadowlands that has occurred to date is a result of a great deal of dedication, commitment and hard work and will continue to be a work in progress.”

The link is here.

Gretchen Henkel, editor of The Secaucus Home News, did  a nice 2.5-page story on the NJMC’s last pontoon boat cruise of the year.  The story is below  — hope you can read it….

Our next free guided walk with Bergen County Audubon is next Tuesday — Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.  — at Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry.

Now’s a great time of year to visit this little-known diamond in the rough. You gotta love those birches (above).

Don Torino of BCAS did some weed-whacking earlier this week to make the trails passable (thanks, Don!), but be prepared to navigate some trails that can be occasionally challenging, including a few fallen trees.More pix from earlier this week — including the downed trees you’ll have to navigate  — follow.

Tuesday might be a bit muddy as well, so dress accordingly.

Full listing below. Continue reading →

NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse and his Banders of Renown banded a rare Grasshopper Sparrow earlier this week at the banding site in North Arlington.

We thought this guys was too cool to save for a teaser.

Mike notes that the Grasshopper Sparrow has some yellow at the bend of its wing (right) — a nuance often overlooked in birding ID books.

Didn’t budge, hoping we’d overlook him.