Regina Geoghan writes:

A few recent fun photos from Mill Creek.

(Thanks, Regina!)

Bird migration is here, and the World Series of Birding is just around the corner. And the Meadowlands Marsh Hawks are defending our title for the second year in a row.

We couldn’t have won last year without your support.  This season, our team is asking for your help again as the title defense is going to be a real challenge.

Every time a team wins the Limited Geographic category, its par total goes up by five — which means the par for Bergen County has now increased by 10 species in the past two years.

The overwhelming support from all of you last year helped us raise enough money to do an overhaul of the Kingsland Overlook Trail. We are in the designing phase right now, and we’ll be planting native plants this spring. Please come out in May to see the trail’s new look.

This year, we have several exciting projects you can contribute to:

* Add another Purple Martin Colony at DeKorte.

* Add more native plants to Harrier Meadow.

* Plant a new native-grass habitat on a nearby closed landfill.

You can get the details and download the pledge form here:

Pledge sheet 2014

The Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society have two exciting events on Tuesday:

*A free Earth Day nature walk is Tuesday, April 22, at 5 p.m. in DeKorte Park.

*A free Earth Day Concert with Spook Handy in DeKorte Park begins at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, in the Meadowlands Environment Center.

More on Spook Handy here. Details follow. Continue reading →

It’s great to see Ron Shields in action. Here’s a selection of his latest from the Kearny Marsh.

Can you ID them all?  (Thanks, Ron!)

Today is a state holiday. DeKorte Park is open but the Meadowlands Environment Center is close.

Dennis Cheeseman writes:

This guy has moved into the hill just across from the offices at DeKorte Park.”

We hope he won’t being seeing his shadow anytime soon.

To say we saw it at a distance is an understatement, but … we definitely saw the Snowy Owl in a marsh by the Hackensack River again today.  The photo above is a huge enlargement from an image taken with a 400mm lens. (A big thanks to NJMC staffers Drew McQuade and Amanda Iveson and a distant Muskrat for finding the bird.)

The owl was also seen near there on Monday. Link to those (better) photos is here.

It’s a beautiful Garter Snake, but you have to scroll down to see it, in deference to those who dislke snakes and photos thereof.

Schmidt’s Woods, of course, is in Secaucus, and a great place to see spring warblers.

(Thanks, Ray!) Continue reading →

We saw quite a few of these catkins on the free guided Harrier Meadow walk on Tuesday, but could not figure out what kind. Somebody suggested feral catkins, but that just seemed wrong. Can you help?

Allan Sanford writes:

I parked on disposal road Friday after hearing the honk of several Ring-necked Pheasants. Knowing they hide very well, I waited for an hour to see this guy come out and do his crows.

I saw a couple more during this time. They are great to see. Add the sound and it is amazing. I’ve always heard them but never witnessed their display until now. It was worth the wait.  (Thanks, Allan!)