Last week, when we were checking on the Osprey nest at the Marsh Resources Inc. wetlands in Carlstadt, we pleasantly surprised to see a young Peregrine Falcon fly onto the site and perch on an adjacent tower. The Ospreys did not seem bothered at all.
The falcon was unbanded, and it got us to thinking that it might be the same bird (below) that fledged last year from the successful nest on the Route 3 Bridge.
NJ Urban Forests blog did a nice writeup on the Ridgefield Nature Center and Community Garden. The link is here.
Ray Duffy reports: "I did an evening walk at Mill Creek Marsh [Monday] evening. I saw at least two male bobolinks getting flushed from the spartina and into a tree.
"They were chasing what I'm assuming where female bobolinks but there was also an immature/female baltimore oriole that was fighing with a mockingbird.
"I got a shot of one male, but he was not out in the open so it's not a great shot. Definitely a male. Big white spot on the head and on the butt. He's starting to fade out of breeding colors, showing pathes of yellowish feathers."
Link to pix is here.
One of the little surprises when we looked in on the Carlstadt Ospreys came when we looked at the photos we had taken.
At least one of the adult Ospreys had been banded.
Kevin Karlson Day is Aug. 21, and we have an added attraction this year — a free, hour-long wildlife photography workshop led by noted bird photographer and shorebird expert and his well-known colleague, Lloyd Spitalnik.
The workshop runs from 3 to 4 p.m., and includes a question and answer session.
Kevin Karlson Day is brought to you by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society.
To rsvp for the workshop or the full day, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022.
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 and the complete August schedule, click here.
We first saw this butterfly on Butterfly Day, and it is still hanging around. It's a Peck's Skipper, easier to identify than many skippers because it is smaller and it has some beautifully distinct wing patterns.
More on Peck's Skippers here.
We also saw a Question Mark on Wednesday afternoon on the Transco Trail, near a Red Admiral — hadn't seen one of those guys since late June. Too bad it wasn't around on Butterfly day.
We had another great turnout for our First-Sunday-of-the-Month Walk at DeKorte Park, with plenty of shorebirds and aprroximately 40 people.
Highlights included a Peregrine Falcon early, Short- and Long-billed Dowitchers, plenty of peeps and yellowlegs, Osprey, and many Forster's Terns and Barn Swallows. Some of us also had a Baltimore Oriole and by the Environment Center.
A big thank-you to all who turned out — and braved the threatening skies to get a great look at Meadowlands nature…
The Hudson Reporter just published a nice story on last week's Butterfly Day — with plenty of photos. Link is here.
