Disposal Road is a great place to view and photograph winter raptors, but everyone should be aware that it can be a busy and dangerous roadway at times.

The narrow roadway may look to be in the middle of nowhere, but it is a major connector road next to an active construction zone.

Please park your vehicle off to the side of the road as far as possible. Do not park on a curve. And do not leave your vehicle door open on the road. 

If you see one who has parked his or her vehicle in the middle of the road or has left a vehicle door open, please ask them to move immediately — before an accident occurs. Much appreciated.

Saw a distant Eastern Meadowlark perched along Disposal Road near the school bus parking lot today just after noon.

(Thanks to Chris Takacs for pointing it out.)

Also on hand, 100 American Crows having some sort of a convention, and the usual raptors.

Stephen Buckingham writes:

Check out the action in the attached from Saturday on Disposal Road.  The little Harrier didn’t stand a chance once the big one caught her trying to eat a rodent in peace and quiet. A split second later the little one was gone and the big guy took her place (and meal).

(Thanks, Steve!  Coming Thursday: Steve’s Red-tail vs. Opossum shot.)

Five years ago, as part of the N.J. Meadowlands Commission’s Oral History Project, we interviewed lots of folks about the region in the old days. We are going to reprint the best of them here, every Tuesday, for the next 10 weeks. First up: Rich Kane, for whom the Richard P. Kane Natural Area is named.

Richard P. Kane has been a key figure in the preservation of the marshes of the Meadowlands, documenting the avian abundance of the region for several decades.

He became interested in birds in 1949 and has frequented the Meadowlands at all times of the year in search of everything from Rough-legged Hawks to White Ibis.

A long-time advocate for the New Jersey Audubon Society, Kane was instrumental in saving was a 600-acre parcel in Moonachie and Carlstadt.

The developers called it “the Empire Tract.” Rich called it the Moonachie-Carlstadt wetlands.

Today it is called neither. It is called the Richard P. Kane Natural Area, in honor of his efforts to save this amazing parcel.

Excerpts from the interview follow: Continue reading →