NJMC staffer Gabrielle Gornelli took this shot of a Common Grackle nest on an old Meadowlands tidegate.  (Thanks, Gaby!)  (reposting after it was misdated…)

Our next free guided walk is Tuesday, May 20, at 10 a.m. at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus.  The photo of the Snowy Egret above was taken on last year’s May MCM walk.

For a list of birds seen on that walk, click here.

Full details follow.  Directions to Mill Creek Marsh are on the right side of this blog. Continue reading →

Jim Wright, who keep this blog for the Meadowlands Commission, also writes a twice-monthly column for the South Bergenite, His latest column is on the new Flyway Gallery show that features images from the NJMC’s coffee-table book, “The Nature of the Meadowlands”:

An American Avocet grabbing a bite at DeKorte Park. A Secaucus pig farmer with his swine on his farm’s last day. A common buckeye butterfly, 25 times larger than life.

Starting today, the Flyway Gallery in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst is hosting an exhibition of nature photography, illustrations and archival photographs that all have one thing in common — they were all showcased in “The Nature of the Meadowlands,” the coffee-table book I wrote for the N.J. Meadowlands Commission in 2012.

All the photography and artwork in the book is so striking that we decided to assemble a gallery show around some of the best of the bunch. Roughly a fourth of the book’s 175 images will be on display, and all will be presented in a larger format than they appeared in the book.

The goal of the exhibition is the same as the goal of the book itself — to celebrate and document the incredible environmental comeback that this region has experienced in recent years. Seeing is believing — especially when you see these images.

Continue reading →

Earlier today, this blog asked photographers to try for a photo of one of the Wilson’s Warblers seen at DeKorte today.

Instead, Ron Shields sent us a shot of a Wilson’s Warbler taken in the Kearny Marsh today just before 4 o’clock, along the cinder trail behind Gunnell Oval. So please don’t look at the photo above. It is not from DeKorte.

The original request still stands.

We will send Ron some directions to DeKorte forthwith.

Anyone missing a Cockatiel? Muhammad Faizan reports seeing one yesterday around 6 p.m. in the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve and near the admin building parking lot.

We’ve had no other reports. as yet.  (Thanks, Faizan!)

Getting multiple reports of Wilson’s Warblers at DeKorte, including at least one sighting along the Kingsland Overlook, if someone could get us a nice photo….  Thanks!

Thanks to the NYC birder who alerted us to the Lincoln’s Sparrows on the overlook as well, near beginning of trail by guard’s booth. Photo taken this afternoon.  Wilson’s? Lincoln’s?  Sort of presidential…

The call came in one morning in May: Could the Meadowlands CSI team (critter species identification) team identify a tiny mystery bug?

The CSI team, which operates out of the Meadowlands Environment Center’s Science Building, jumped at the opportunity.

After transferring the bug to a glass tube, they placed it under a microscope and photographed it with a smartphone. Diagnosis: a flea, as suspected.

More on the MEC here. (And a big thanks to J.J. Rusher of the MEC for the micro photography.)

Several Blackpolls seen again in DeKorte this a.m., off the Transco Trail by the admin building parking lot. Also: a yellow trifecta –Common Yellow-throats, Yellow-rumps (surprise!), and Yellow Warblers.

Also: Yellows and yellow-rumps. Along the Transco Trail by the parking lot.  Cape May seen as recently as 3:30 by Chris Takacs.

Pix  of Blackpoll on Wednesday.

Bay-breasted Warbler feeding low in trees just past the Administration Building parking lot as of 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Much easier to see than yesterday afternoon, and much better lighting. (Not sure who first found the bird yesterday, but thank you!)

More on Bay-breasted Warblers here.