If you love watching Monk Parakeets, you have to head over to Ridgefield and see all the Monk Parakeets sunning themselves in the trees near their nesting areas. We counted 20 at once yesterday, including several pairs of love birds.

By the way, directions to the Monk Parakeet colony in Ridge field are in the right-hand column of this blog.

How many Monk Parkakeets can you see in the photo below?

Ray Duffy reported a seldom-seen-in-New-Jersey Yellow-headed Blackbird at DeKorte Park yesterday between 6 and 7 p..m. between the MEC and the Kingsland Overlook:

“It was with a pretty big flock of Brown-headed cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles.  I found it because I heard a different call before I located it in the tree.  Not really sure if it will hang around. ”

He pointed the bird out to Muhammad Faizan, who took the accompanying photos.

(Thanks, Ray! Thanks, Muhammad!)

More on Yellow-headed Blackbirds here.

As you likely know, owls are flying, hunting, roosting and nesting here in the Meadowlands.

The Flat Rock Nature Center will bring artifacts and live birds — one or two Screech Owls, a Barred Owl and possibly a Great Horned owl — to the MEC on Sunday, April 6, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

A Flat Rock staffer will talk all about these feathered ambassadors, including their behavior, physiology, adaptations, and natural history — including pix of several species of owls photographed in the Meadowlands.

Registration is recommended and appreciated. For more information: 201-460-8300.

Cost: $5; $4 MEC Members.

Also at DeKorte Park on Sunday April 6: a free First Sunday of the Month Walk, 10 a.m. to noon., and Birding for Beginners, a free class from 1 to 3 p.m., including a walk.