Several folks have been monitoring the Ridgefield Bald Eagles’ nest.

Everything seemed to be going along fine until recent days, when folks noticed no activity at the nest for hours at a time, or both eagles returning together after being away from the nest, or juvenile Bald Eagles flying in the vicinity.

These are photos from March 27, the last time we know of when Al and Alice traded places in the nest.

Alice flew out just moments before Al flew in. If you look closely, you can see the antenna on Alice’s back (above). The photos below are of Al flying into the nest.

Please let this blog know if you see any activity at the nest.

We had a nifty Sunday morning at DeKorte Park yesterday — with more than 50 participants enjoying a beautiful April morning and sighting more than 40 bird species, including lots of Tree Swallows like this guy, photographed this weekend by Fred Nisenholz.

We’ll print the full list tomorrow.

Mickey Raine was nice enough to pass along some photos of the live rehabbed owls that Jill Bennetta of Flat Rock Brook Nature Center brought to her presentation on the owls of New Jersey at the Meadowlands Environment Center yesterday.

(Thanks, Mickey!)

Snowy Owl at DeKorte Park

Jill Bennetta of Flat Rock Brook Nature Center included photos of seven owls from the Meadowlands in her owl presentation at the MEC yesterday.

We thought we’d share them again here — thanks to Stephen Buckingham, Fred Nisenholz, Muhammad Faizan, Doug Morel and Ron Shields! (The other two were from this blog.)

The New York Times had an informative article about one of our favorite Meadowlands birds, the American Woodcock, recently.

Here’s a sample:

“Woodcocks have unusual adaptations that contribute to their success. The bird’s long bill is flexible at its tip, which allows it to probe deeply and pinch rapidly burrowing worms and insects with great accuracy and little resistance.

“Additionally, the woodcock’s eyes are positioned high on its head, allowing the bird to monitor potential threats even with its bill buried in the mud. This arrangement provides a great defense against predators, and it accounts for the bird’s unusual anatomy. A woodcock’s brain is positioned below its eyes, upside down in its skull.”

The link is here.

DeKorte Park is proud to be belong to Garden State Gardens,  a consortium dedicated to increasing public awareness of and appreciation for New Jersey’s public gardens.

The group’s home page. including links to all of the participating gardens, is here.

The group’s Facebook page is here.