Thanks to the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute and its continuous weather monitoring station, you can now get a weather report localized for DeKorte Park.

The link is here.

Due to Winter Storm Juno, DeKorte Park will be closed until Wednesday morning, Jan. 28, at the earliest.

The N.J. Meadowlands Commission Meeting on Wednesday has been rescheduled  for Friday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.

Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus and the Marsh Discovery Trail in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst are closed until after Winter Storm Juno. Please do not enter.

Our next free walk with Bergen County Audubon Society is our Sixth Annual Super Bird Sunday Walk in DeKorte Park on Feb. 1 — the same Sunday as the Super Bowl, just with lots of fresh air and no crass commercial craziness.

We’ll not only look for Bald Eagles and winter raptors, but we’ll be awarding prizes to the first person to see a bird species that was named for an NFL team.

(We may have gotten that last part backwards, but the stuff about the prizes is pretty much true.)

Details follow.

Continue reading →

Thinking of visiting DeKorte Park or nearby Disposal Road this weekend?

To see what’s being reported at DeKorte on eBird Hotspot Explorer, click here. (Hint: lots of ducks and a Bald Eagle or two.)

To see what’s being reported along Disposal Road on eBird Hotspot Explorer, click here.

The weather was nice enough to cooperate for our Third Tuesday of the Month walk at Laurel Hill this week, and the raptors obliged as well. Not only did we have five Bald Eagles, but we also had a Northern Harrier, a Red-tail or two, and a Peregrine ensconced in a nearby Osprey nest.

Thanks to all who participated!

Full list and another pic follow.

Continue reading →

Last week, the Meadowlands Commission brought an injured Red-tail to The Raptor Trust. We got an update this morning. The Raptor Trust reports:

“Your” red-tail is still in very guarded condition. Our vet sutured the crop but it is touch & go, and only time will tell if it will heal properly.

The bird also had blood in both eyes, so we have to see what’s going on there.

We are doing everything possible to bring it back to health but unfortunately it is in bad shape.

Fingers crossed.  Thanks to all who have been asking about the raptor!

Chris Takacs reports:

Common Redpoll (above) was seen feeding with Goldfinches at Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry on Tuesday morning.

Also seen was a leucistic Eastern Towhee (right) that  popped up in response to my best Towhee whistle. I’ve seen the Towhee a day or 2 ago but couldn’t relocate it to get a photo until today. Both birds were seen on the edge of the woods where the fields begin.

Thanks, Chris!

Don Torino’s latest column for wildnewjersey.tv is on River Barge Park in winter.

Here’s the opening:

Gone are the causal lunchtime visitors, the weekend picnickers and the mothers with toddlers in tow. The boats that took short sleeved, hat wearing sunscreen lovers through tours of the Meadowlands are now stored away and covered up for the winter.

The tables and benches are empty and visitors are now few and far between unless you consider the Double-Crested Cormorants that are standing like tourists along the dock enjoying the water’s edge, seemingly impervious to the biting cold of the Meadowlands winter.

The link is here.

If you’ve followed the Peregrine Falcons at Laurel Hill, you’re probably aware that three years ago or so they were likely responsible for preventing the local Common Ravens from nesting — staking a claim months before nesting season.

Last year, they prevented a pair of Ospreys nesting on the nearby swing bridge — — staking a claim months before nesting season. Continue reading →