Mickey Raine  sent this report  (and these great photos!) yesterday:

“This past Saturday I stopped by Mill Creek Point… I was standing by the Greenway [arch], a pair of mating Monk Parakeets… landed in the children’s playground.  They did not seem nervous… almost posing at times.  I spent a good 15 minutes observing them.”

Mickey also shared a link to a 2010 article about wild Monk Parakeets in the northeast:
http://newjerseyoutdoors.blogspot.com/2010/03/wild-parakeets-in-new-jersey.html?m=1

He continued, “Also, in the pool of water… just before reaching the circle, a Greater Yellowleg was poking into the water.  And only…7 or 8 feet away was this rather large Snapping Turtle…it seemed to be basking in the sun.”  Thanks, Mickey and Elaine.

For the fifth year in a row, a team representing the meadowlands will take part in the national World Series of Birding.
The World Series is the country’s largest and most prestigious birding competition and provides participants and sponsors with a fun and interactive way to raise money for critically needed conservation priorities.
Over the past thirty years, this event has brought birding to the attention of the media, and has raised close to $9 million for bird conservation.
Thanks to your support over the past four years we’ve been able to help complete some great projects in around DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. Projects include establishing a new butterfly garden along Disposal Road and enhancing native plantings at the Kingsland Overlook and Harrier Meadow. (These projects also received funding from Bergen County Audubon Society.)
Our local team, known as the Meadowlands Marsh Hawks, consists of Mike Newhouse, Chris Takacs, and Mike Wolfe, three top-notch birders.
There’s still time to support our local team!

The link to the Meadowlands Marsh Hawks page is here.

FREE – 7th Annual Mother’s Day Nature Walk for all ages. This walk with the NJMC and BCAS begins at the 5.4-acre Ridgefield Nature Center (once the home of the Great Bear Bottled Water Co.) and ends at Skeetkill Creek Marsh.The walk is run by the NJMC and the BCAS. Plus, we’ll stop to see the Monk Parakeets along the way.
Meet on Shaler Boulevard at Ray Avenue in Ridgefield, NJ. See directions, right.
To register, call Don Torino of the BCAS at 201-230-4983 or register online here.