Ron Shields filed this report from Kearny Marsh recently:
Several good birds were seen this a.m. — Peregrine out toward the Saw Mill Creek Trail, Caspian Tern over the Shorebird Pool, Northern Shovelers in the Shorebird Pool and American Redstarts (also in the Lyndhurst Natutre Reserve). (Thanks, Don!)
Since Tuesday, we have had a light blue Parakeet hanging out in the trees by the Environment Center and the plaza and amphitheater by the Administration Building.
He does not answer to the name "Frosty."
If you are missing a light-blue Parakeet or would like a pet, you are welcome to come to DeKorte and [try to] get him.
We suspect he might have been simply released here — it happens from time to time, unfortunately.
Ray Duffy reports: "I had a Caspian Tern patrolling the river around 6:30-7:15 pm Tuesday night. I also came across a Sora in the high school marsh near the high school side by the debris gate."
The William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park begins another month of programming tonight with free public programs at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. — weather permitting, of course.
Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.
Each evening two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.
Pictured at left is the observatory's state-of-the-art telescope with a 20-inch mirror, housed beneath a retractable dome.
The telescope, one of the largest in the area, is equipped with cameras to record the stars and planets. Special filters block light pollution.
For detailed information, click here. The full September schedule will be posted when it becomes available.
Usual suspects at DeKorte, plus two Northern Shovelers, our first since the spring.
NJMC Naturalist Gabrielle Bennett-Meany took this photo on the Mill Creek Marsh Trail. She writes:
They are quite abundant, so anyone who is walking along the trail quietly and hears rustling in the vegetation, it could be a muskrat feeding.
Answer follows.
Valerie Knipping writes: "Sunday morning searched very hard for the Avocet. at DeKorte. No luck. Lots of Least Sandpipers and 1 semi-palm plover. Also a few Laughing Gulls sprinkled about along with many Snowy and Great Egrets. Also one male Black-throated Blue Warbler in a Scholar Tree near the buildings.
On Monday at DeKorte, NJMC staff had Short-billed Dowitchers and lots of Least Sandpipers (above) and Yellowlegs, plus a Forster's Tern or two, the usual Ospreys and a Kestrel (by the Erie Landfill). We do have some mud flats in places, but water levels are still a bit up. And no American Avocet.
Please join The Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon society for a walk at DeKorte Park this Sunday — Sept. 5 — at 10 a.m.
Details follow.
Did not see the Avocet as of 1 p.m. Friday, but it could easily be out of sight. Had dowitchers, both yellowlegs, Ruddies, Osprey, a few Forster's Terns and lots of egrets.
Water levels in the Shorebird Pool are up due to recent rains but a few spots of mud are around. Also had an American Kestrel off Disposal Road.