Sandy Sorkin shared some great December photos with us. Sandy writes:

I think the weather outside is definitely frightful, and it really shouldn’t be in the mid 60’s this time of year. But hot or cold, many winter birds have arrived in the Meadowlands and a few of the summer birds have stayed on. For example, we really shouldn’t expect so many Great Egrets in late December.

For the photographers, most of the pictures were taken with the new Nikon 200-500mm lens. I also tried the lens with a 1.4x and find it works well.

Why fly south when the weather here in the Meadowlands is so nice?

Apparently that’s what a Baltimore Oriole and a pair of Northern Rough-winged Swallows were thinking this weekend. Both species are usually gone from these parts by now, but Jim Macaluso photographed an Oriole while on a Bergen County Audubon Society trip to Mehrhof Pond in Little Ferry on Saturday.

Yesterday Jim captured two Rough-winged Swallows hanging out at Skeetkill Creek Marsh in Ridgefield. With temps supposed to stay in the mid to high-50s this week, maybe we’ll see some other species who are extending their seasonal stay in the region.

Join the Bergen County Audubon Society tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 15) for a guided nature walk at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst from 10 am to noon. Participants will walk along the base of the remediated Kingsland Landfill and other parts of the park, looking for wintering waterfowl, raptors and other birds of interest. The walk meets in the parking lot across from the Meadowlands Environment Center. For more information, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.