Join the Bergen County Audubon Society next Tuesday (Oct. 17) from 10 am to noon for a guided walk of Harrier Meadow in North Arlington. The beautiful 70-acre natural area is normally closed to the public. We’ll be looking for for fall migrants, waterfowl, shorebirds and more.

For more info contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

Thanks to Don Torino for passing along this article about how studying 100-year-old, soot-covered Horned Larks can help inform us about helping to protect the environment and improve air quality. It’s pretty fascinating and worth a read.

Photo: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Interesting story by Scott Fallon in The Record about an invasive species called the spotted lanternfly that has been doing a lot of harm to trees in eastern Pennsylvania and could be headed our way. Check out the story here

We are thrilled to report that Saturday’s Meadowlands Birding Festival was a great success! Nearly 500 people came to DeKorte Park for a day of bird walks, talks and kid’s activities, as well as birding boat trips at River Barge Park in Carlstadt.

The walks traversed DeKorte Park as well as Harrier Meadow and the Kingsland Landfill, areas not normally opened to the public. Keynote speaker/award-winning field guide author Richard Crossley led one of the walks and gave a captivating program on waterfowl. The live raptor presentation by the Avian Wildlife Center was another hit.

Special thanks go to the volunteers that made it all possible, including those from the Bergen County Audubon Soceiety, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Hackensack Rivererkeeper; especially BCAS President Don Torino, the driving force behind the festival.

Thanks also to our guest speakers Don Smith, Jim Wright, Ron Shields and Dr. Francisco Artigas; participating nature groups (Tenafly Nature Center, Teaneck Creek Conservancy, The New Weis Center for Education, Arts & Recreation, Greenbrook Sanctuary); and Belleville Troop #350 for providing food.

Also thanks to the Meadowlands Environment Center educators who kept kids enthralled in activities such as All About Eggs and Avian Adaptations.

The Record did a great story on the event too.

Below is a sampling of photos from the day.

Cedar Berries, Obedient Plant, Daisies – early fall in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Here are some photos from Regina Geoghan taken recently at Mill Creek Marsh. Thank you Regina!

A gorgeous monarch butterfly resting with open wings on a white common boneset blossom with muted green and gold marsh reeds and grasses in the background. Seen at Mill Creek Marsh Park in the New Jersey Meadowlands,

A landscape view of goldenrod and other marsh reeds with a blue sky compliment – taken at Mill Creek Marsh in the NJ Meadowlands, Secaucus NJ.

A vertical format floral landscape scene of native wildflowers of early autumn growing in Mill Creek Marsh Park, N.J. Meadowlands.

Late Summer-Early Fall blooming goldenrod, English False Willow, Pensylvania Smart Weed, Bonset and other wildflowers blooming amonst the reeds and grasses of the marsh landscape at Mill Creek Marsh, NJ Meadowlands.

Many, many thanks to Regina Geoghan for sending in this beautifully written piece on the last days of summer. We look forward to more articles from Regina!

On one of the first days of autumn, the late morning sun was warm and bright, a slight breeze rustled the tree branches and grasses, the tide was low, and all was blissfully quiet with the exception of the delightful chatter and peeps of birds.

Visiting Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus, I had hoped to find some early fall color to photograph but there wasn’t much to see. In fact, at first glance, the marsh environment seemed disappointingly drab and forlorn. Overgrown trees and shrubs drooped over the pathways, creating deep shadows. Dried leaves littered the ground. Summer had passed the seasonal baton to fall but somehow didn’t seem ready to give him any glory.

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Check out Jim Wright’s awesome column in today’s Record on Saturday’s Meadowlands Festival of Birding at DeKorte Park. For more information and to register for the Festival, click here

Be sure to check out Wright’s Nature of the Meadowlands” talk Saturday, with photography tips by nature photographer Ron Shields, at 10:30 am in the MEC Auditorium.

The talk marks the five-year anniversary of Wright’s book, “The Nature of the Meadowlands,” which was written for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.The lavishly illustrated, 128-page book illuminates the Meadowlands’ natural and unnatural history, including its darkest days of a half-century ago and its environmental revival. Ron contributed many of the book’s beautiful photos.

Jim’s column, “The Bird Watcher,” appears bi-weekly in The Record. His blog is The Celery Farm and Beyond

Ron Shields is an avid birding photographer in the Meadowlands who was recently featured in a Record article.

This Kestrel at Mill Creek Marsh was in the mood to pose for Dennis Cheeseman today, resulting in these fantastic shots!

Black-and-white Warbler (female)

Thanks to Dee De Santis for these photos from Sunday’s BCAS walk at Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry! The next BCAS guided Meadowlands walk is Tuesday, Oct. 17, from 10 am to noon at Harrier Meadow in North Arlington, a wonderful natural area normally closed to the public.

For more info contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

Black-and-White Warbler (Female)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (male)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Bald Eagle (Juvenile)

Pied-billed Grebe

Love the look on the face of the Pied-billed Grebe above! Thanks to Dennis Cheeseman for these pics that he took at DeKorte yesterday!

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruddy Duck