Due to the predicted snowstorm, DeKorte Park and River Barge Park will be closed this Saturday (Jan. 23) and Sunday (Jan. 24). Both parks are expected to reopen Monday at 8 am. Please check back for confirmation.

Our lives are all about stories, the stories we recollect from the days when we could run full out day and night without rest to the years when things slowed down and our life’s sagas became more about old friends and family. These are the very same tales we love to recall when we have big audiences and the stories we love to remember when we are sitting on the front porch alone. They are the stories we love to pass on to our children and grandchildren and the stories we use to remind all our old buddies about where we have been and what we have done. They are our stories, the ones we hold deep in our hearts and save in that very special place to bring out when we need a smile or to renew our souls. And for birders, the stories can sometimes mean even more.

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Due to the predicted snowstorm, DeKorte Park and River Barge Park will be closed this coming Saturday (Jan. 23) and Sunday (Jan. 24). Check back Monday morning for an update on park status.

Due to expected heavy cloud cover, tonight’s (Jan. 20) open public viewing at the William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst has been cancelled. The next open public viewing night is Wednesday, Jan. 27, from 7 to 10 pm.

Those who braved the frigid temperatures to take part in yesterday morning’s BCAS Nature Walk at Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus were well rewarded by some great birding. Joe Koscielny shared some of the awesome photos he took during the walk. Enjoy!

Peregrine Falcon

Swans in Flight

Immature Bald Eagle

Hooded Mergansers

Great Blue Heron

Cormorants and Geese

Coots

Buffleheads and Mallards

Due to the predicted snowstorm, DeKorte Park will be closed this coming Saturday (Jan. 23) and Sunday (Jan. 24).

NJSEA Supervisor of Park Planning Katy Weidel with BCAS President Don Torino

Lyndhurst Nature Reserve

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority extends a big thank you to the Bergen County Aububon Society for its grant of $5,000 to the NJSEA to be used toward expanding pollinator and songbird habitat plantings at the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve in DeKorte Park!

New native plantings will create nesting and foraging habitats for cardinals, warblers, chickadees, finches, mocking birds, and others. There will be seed producing grasses for birds and host and nectar plants for butterflies.

Plantings (exact selection may vary upon availability) is slated to consist of Native Woody Shrubs: Aronia melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry), Amelanchier canadensis (Shadblow Serviceberry) Cornus racemosa (Gray Dogwood), Cornus sericea (Red-twig Dogwood), Viburnum dentatum (Arrowwood Viburnum) and Ilex verticillata (Winterberry Holly).

Plantings are scheduled to take place in late spring.

Rich Brown writes to us about his Bald Eagle sighting at River Barge Park on Saturday:

I saw a Bald Eagle at River Barge Park [Saturday] morning. It appeared to be a fourth-year eagle with some darkness left across the head.  At first I observed it perched nearby in the trees near the pavilion. I got a photo before it flew across the water and perched on the lone tree out towards the New Jersey Turnpike. The eagle almost looked like an osprey with the dark streak across the eyes.  It was perched for a few minutes before it flew off to the west.

Don’t miss the Bergen County Audubon Society’s next Meadowlands Nature Walk, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus. The free walk is from 10 am to noon. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for ravens, raptors, waterfowl and other birds of interest on the Hackensack River. The walk meets in the parking lot by the ballfields. Information: 201-230-4983 or greatauk4@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to head to Wild Birds Unlimited in Paramus tomorrow at 10 am for a seminar on the Bergen County Audubon Society’s (BCAS) new Certified Wildlife Garden Program. Learn how to make your own backyard into a beneficial habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

The new program aims to raise awareness of the importance of ensuring that backyards, schoolyards, business grounds and other areas benefit wildlife. The BCAS invites homeowners, communities, schools, nature centers and others to have their gardens certified.

For more information click here. You can also contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

Wild Birds Unlimited is located at 189 Route 17 North in Paramus.