Congratulations to the kids who completed the BCAS Junior Naturalist Program at DeKorte yesterday. During the two-hour program they stopped at learning stations throughout the park focusing on mammals, amphibians, butterflies and birds. The kids especially loved the many butterfly species and beautiful great egrets seen in the park.
We’ll start off the week with these cool shots Rich Brown took of some young Forster’s Terns at DeKorte yesterday. Happy Monday!
Ron Shields took these stunning photos of the Wilson’s Phalarope yesterday from the Gazebo in DeKorte Park. Looks like he’s sticking around!
Presented by the Bergen County Audubon Society As Part of Its 75th Anniversary Celebration
Renowned birding field guide author David Sibley is coming to the Meadowlands Environment Center!! Sibley will give a presentation on birding at 7 pm on Thursday, Oct. 6. His books will be available for purchase and signing. The second editions of Sibley’s Field Guides to the Birds of Eastern and Western North American were published in March.
Sibley has also authored guides to Bird Life & Behavior, an overall guide to birds, and birding basics. You don’t want to miss this very special event! Space is limited and registration is required. To register click here
So call me a worrywart. Some days I worry that I may have forgotten to turn off the coffee pot before leaving the house and on occasion I am deeply concerned that I have never actually seen a toad sit on a toad stool. But lately I have been feeling a deep uneasiness that many birders are not enjoying birds like they could be and might even be missing out on the real passion of birding.
Marco Lips took this cool photo of two Immature Herons in a crossing patter recently on the Marsh Discovery Trail in DeKorte Park. Marco was looking for wrens, but you never know what you’ll stumble upon.
Our Birding By Boat tour earlier this month was so popular that we’ve added a second trip, on Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 10 am to noon! Registration is required and we expect the trip to fill up quick, so best to reserve your seat now. Click here to register.
Thanks to all who came out to yesterday’s walk at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus. Some great photos from Joe Koscielny below. The next BCAS Meadowlands Nature Walk is on Sunday, Sept. 4, from 10 am to noon, at Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry. For more info email greatauk4@gmail.com or call 201-230-4983.
Duck and Snowy Egret
Woodchuck
Greater Yellowlegs and Sandpipers
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Snowy Egret
The rare for these parts Wilson’s Phalarope has remained at DeKorte this week. There were continued sightings of the bird yesterday from early morning through 7 pm. Above is a photo of our special guest taken last week by Chris Takacs.
Here’s more on the Wilson’s Phalarope, courtesy of allaboutbirds.org
Every year in late summer, migrating Wilson’s Phalaropes put on an amazing show as enormous flocks amass on salty lakes of the West. There they spin round and round in the nutrient-rich waters, creating whirlpools that stir up invertebrates that will fuel their migration to South America. Females are rich peachy and gray, and are more colorful than the males. Females court and defend male mates—several per season—while males do most of the work of raising the young.
Thanks to Dennis Leaver of Del Helicopter Service for providing these photos from a recent flyover of River Barge Park that give an aerial perspective of the park. Very cool.
