A little bit out of the Meadowlands but still noteworthy: Rich Brown sent a photo he took on Friday of a Bald Eagle perched along the Passaic River.

Rich writes:

I was driving to work this morning on Route 21 North when I saw a Bald Eagle perched on a log in the Passaic River, north of the dam.  I crossed the river on Route 46 East and took the first exit south to River Drive in Garfield.  I was able to take some photos from the public sidewalk along the river, near the USGS Stream Gaging Station.  I could not observe any leg bands at that angle or distance.

I’ve observed eagles, osprey, geese, ducks, mergansers, gulls, and other birds in the area before. There is a park and walkway along the river (above and below the dam) that makes it easy to observe wildlife.  The area is called Dundee Lake.  I did a quick internet search and found some interesting information about the area on Elmwood Park’s website.

“The tract flourished as farmland until the latter half of the nineteenth century, when this quiet agrarian countryside was stirred by outside forces. A major influence was the Dundee Water Power and Land Company, which built a dam for water power across the Passaic River south of what is today Elmwood Park. The Dundee Dam, completed in 1860 between what is now Garfield and Clifton, promoted development of manufacturing in the area.

Though the land just north of the dam did not receive water power, it was certainly affected by it. With the dam and its subsequent back-up of water and the widening of the river to form what appeared to be a lake, the topography of our immediate section of the river was altered. The lake, called Dundee Lake, became a landmark, providing a popular recreation spot as well as a name by which to identify the contiguous area.”