Naturalist Drew McQuade, who is working on the NJMC’s current fish study, writes: “Had a rare catch on Wednesday with this Atlantic Moonfish.”
More on Atlantic Moonfish here.
A few more of Drew’s fish pix are below.
Dennis Cheeseman shared this pic of a young Peregrine Falcon, taken at River Barge Park earlier this week.
It’s simple arithmetic.
August + High Tides = Semipalmated Sandpipers = Hunting Peregrines.
The best time to see the Semipalmated Sandpipers resting on the docks at River Barge Park is at high tide.
To see when high tide is at River Barge Park (Garretts Reach), click here.
Fred Nisenholz took these Monk Parakeet shots earlier this month on Railroad Ave in Ridgefield under the Hendricks Causeway Bridge. (Thanks, Fred!)
Thought we’d share this photo of Marsh Discovery Trail repairs, taken yesterday. The old slippery plastic boardwalk is being replaced with cedar planking.
Like you, we can’t wait for this great trail to reopen.
Our next free walk is 10 a.m. on Tuesday,
August 19, in amazing Harrier Meadow, a 70-acre natural area usually closed to the public.
More information follows.
NJMC Naturalist Emeritus Don smith took these shots of semipalmated Sandpipers at River Barge Park near high tide on Saturday.
He estimated their numbers to be between 1,500 and 2,000. (Thanks, Don!)
Now appearing daily through late August. (The peeps, not Don.)
Ask and ye shall receive.
On Monday, we reported Chris Takacs’ sighting of a wing-tagged Great Egret in the Shorebird Pool, with “C19” on its bright yellow/orange tag, and asked photographers if they might get a photo of the aforementioned bird.
So a tip of the NJMC cap to Allan Sanford for the photo above.
In the Meantime, NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse reported the sighting to the USGS and also phoned New York City Audubon‘s Susan Elbin, who told Mike that the bird was banded as a juvenile on July 10 in Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Queens, more than 20 miles away as the egret flies.
(Thanks to all of the Fab Four: Allan, Mike, Susan and Chris!)
In case you are wondering, we have had similar sightings in years past. The link to a sighting last summer — of another wing-tagged Great Egret from Jamaica Bay — is here. Another from 2012 is here.
More info on how to report sightings of wing-tagged birds is here.
An NJMC colleague reports she saw a young coyote between the entrance to DeKorte and the guard booth on Thursday around 5:20 p.m., so be on the lookout (and have your camera ready).
We have seen them on Disposal Road and on nearby landfills but not in the park itself before.
We had a wonderful Sunday walk, with lots of congenial people and lots of excellent sightings, including: Least Bittern, American White Pelican, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Ospreys,
Orchard Orioles, warblers, and more.
The walk culminated with a quick stop at Jill’s Garden, where we saw Monarchs, Silver-spotted Skippers, Peck’s skipper, Broad-winged Skipper, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Red Admiral and Snowberry Clearwing Moth.
Full list follows. Continue reading