Daily Archives: March 2, 2015

First Sunday Bird Walk Recap

About twenty-five people came to DeKorte Park for our First Sunday bird walk yesterday. The temperature was colder than expected – about 26 degrees, but the snow held off until about an hour after we finished.

013b B Merganser Hooded 006bf RchrdDKorte Park Mdwlnds NJ 030115 OK FLICKRWe walked as a group from the EC parking lot to the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve, scouting the evergreens for a glimpse of a long-eared owl, to no avail. We saw a group of Hooded Mergansers in one of only a few open patches of water near the Saw Mill Creek Trail. Thanks to Mickey Raine for the photos here.

We decided to venture down to Disposal Road. (No construction work on Sunday – please remember the road is officially closed to traffic.)  We were rewarded with a long look at a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk, who hovered stock still for what seemed like 20 minutes over the Erie landfill, looking for prey.

Earlier we watched the same bird chase a Red-tailed Hawk from its perch on a lonely ailanthus, only to be harassed by some crows in turn. The Rough-leg flew off for a while before returning for its hovering performance.

Another Rough-leg, a light morph this time, glided over the Kingsland landfill, giving us a nice view, then perched where Don Torino was able to get his scope on it for a while. Rich Santangello of Bergen County Audubon was also there working the crowd.

There was also a small flock of Goldfinches, together with a couple of types of Sparrows, in the brush who kept a splinter group of birders occupied for a while.

 

What We Might See in March

Red-tail vs possum

To see what we might see in the Meadowlands this month, we thought we’d check what we posted on the blog last March.

Just click on the text to link to the post.

March 6: Red-tail Vs. Opossum on Disposal Road  (above)

March 12: The Killdeer Are Back

March 24: Alice the Eagle Update

March 25: Tiniest Turtle Debate

March 26: American Woodcock @ DeKorte

March 28: Yellow-headed Blackbird @ DeKorte

March 31: Ospreys on Nest.