We lowered the water levels in the Shorebird Pool at DeKorte Park this week in preparation for Kevin Karlson Day this Saturday. We are already  getting lots of peeps and yellowlegs — and Ospreys that like fishing in the shallow water.

More info on Kevin Karlson Day — free and open to the public — is here.

Above, an NJMC naturalist closes one of the tidegates that helps regulate water levels in the Kingsland Impoundment, a.k.a. the Shorebird Pool, right outside the Environment Center.

Note: When the Marsh Discovery Trail opens this week, it will be open only part way. Because of extensive damage to one part of the trail, it is no longer a loop. You will have to turn around instead of walking all the way to the Transco Trail.

Due to repairs being done to the Marsh Discovery Trail, toady's noon walk has been canceled. Thank you for your patience. Stay tuned for further updates.

This pair from our spring banding project should be easy to figure out.

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Reminder: A free guided nature walk of Harrier Meadow, a 70-acre natural area usually closed to the public, is tomorrow at 10 a.m. It will be around low tide, so we could see hundreds and hundreds of sandpipers…

Details are here.

The NJMC's Jim Wright wrote his latest "Nature Next Door" column for The  South Bergenite on shorebird photographer Lloyd Spitalnik, who will be co-leading a nature photography workshop with Kevin Karlson this Saturday at DeKorte. The program is part of a day of free programs with Karlson, beginning with bird walks at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. More on the event is in the column below:

For the second year in a row, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission is sponsoring a day of bird walks and talks at Lyndhurst's DeKorte Park by noted nature photographer and shorebird expert Kevin Karlson. Best of all, the entire program is free.

The event, on Saturday, Aug. 21, also features an exciting new twist this year. In the afternoon, Kevin and another top nature photographer, Lloyd Spitalnik, are presenting a free workshop entitled: “How to Compose and Create a Better Digital Wildlife Photograph.”

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We had plenty of butterflies at DeKorte yesterday, including these amorous Monarchs. Also seen at the Butterfly Garden: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Common Busckeye, Cabbage White, Orange Sulhur, Pearl Crescent, Red Admiral, Question Mark, Painted lady, Silver-spotted Skipper, Broad-winged Skipper, Peck's Skipper, Least Skipper, Common Sootywing, Wild Indigo Duskywing  and Clear-winged Moth.

As the New Jersey Audubon Society embarks on its Meadowlands Shorebird Study, researchers are eager to hear of any overlooked places in the district where shorebirds congregate.

For an example, N.J. Meadowlands Commission staffer Angelo Urato passed along a photo (above) to this blog of dozens of peeps roosting on a dock at the new River Barge Marina in Carlstadt.

Another pic and more info follow.

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The Meadowlands Commission's free Third-Tuesday nature walk this month is at the legendary Harrier Meadow. The timing (and tide) should be right to see migrating shorebirds and a raptor or two.

The walk, run in association with the Bergen County Audubon Society, runs from 10 a.m. to noon. Because the site is usually closed to the public, you will need to sign a standard liability release. Download it here: Download HARRIER Release.

Full listing, with rsvp information, follows.

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