Chris Takacs relayed Allan Sanford’s text that the Marbled Godwit is currently on the little sandbar island visible from the walkway by the Shorebird Pool. Got that?

(Thanks, Chris and Allan!)

Thanks again to the 14 brave souls who participated in our First Sunday Walk at DeKorte Park.  The weather was on the dreary side, but had quite a few nifty birds (plus a Bald Eagle on Disposal Road that did not stick around for our walk).

(Thanks to Don Torino, Mary Kostus and Marie Longo for their help on the walk, and with the list that follows!)
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One of our New Year’s resolutions is to improve our nature photography. We watched the above 1940 video (“Elmer’s Candid Camera”) over the holidays in hopes of making our pictures a bit more animated.

Let us know if you find a copy on-line.

Mike Wolfe pointed us in the direction of the OC Warbler on the Kingsland Overlook Trail this morning.

We saw the bird, as per Mike’s directions, at the beginning of the first opening to the left of the steps leading up from the Environment Center. It was on the right-hand side, in about five feet.  (Thanks, Mike!)

Alice by the nest (on left)

Ron Shields stopped by the Bald Eagle nest late last month and managed to get photos of the Alice near the nest, and Al eating a fish. In the one close-up, you can see Alice’s antenna. (Thanks, Ron!)

Don’t miss Ron’s talk at the Meadowlands Environment Center on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m.

Chris Takacs reports:

In conjunction with our latest South Bergenite column, which follows, we are asking members of the Meadowblog community to vote for their favorite Meadowlands bird of 2014. So read the column by the NJMC’s Jim Wright — and then vote!

For local nature lovers, this past year will be remembered as a year of rare and unexpected birds — so many, in fact that we at the N.J. Meadowlands Commission would like you to vote for the 2014 Meadowlands Bird of the Year.

You can credit NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse for the idea. “We have seen so many amazing birds this year,” he said recently. “Why don’t we have local nature lovers vote for their favorite?”

When Mike speaks, I listen.

We started going over a list of cool birds that had been seen in the past 12 months — in addition to our usual array of terrific birds – and soon realized we had our work cut out for us. Continue reading →

Our next free walk is Sunday at DeKorte Park and nearby Disposal Road. We’ll look for raptors (and keep an eye out for Snowy Owls) as well as wintering waterfowl.

(Last month we had a Rough-legged Hawk; pic above by Ron Shields. Thanks, Ron!)

Full listing follows. Continue reading →

Earlier this week, Richard Brown wrote to the blog about a pair of falcons at Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus.

One of the falcons then perched on a ball field light and I got some photos.He was able to read the band on its leg:  Black 23 / Green AN.

We asked if anyone could provide more info. Peregrine whiz Mike Girone responded immediately:

That is Laurel Hill’s resident female. She was banded as a nestling by Kathy Clark at the Atlantic City Hilton in 2012.

Greg Gard passed along the information to us as well.

(Thanks, Mike, Greg and Richard!)

As promised, we are posting the full list of birds seen on our New Year’s Day Walk with Bergen County Audubon. Highlights included lots of Green-winged Teal, a few Northern Harriers and those two Bald Eagles.

Thanks to Marie Longo for the photos, and thanks to Marie, Mary Kostus and Peggy O’Neill for their help with the following list. Thanks to all our participants, including ths folks into this group shot. We suspect the guy on the right has been birding a tad too long.

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