The Osprey couple nesting in Kearny across the Hackensack River from Laurel Hill County Park are parents for the second year in a row. 
   The nest, registered with the New Jersey Osprey Project as Osprey Nest #042-A-002, had two successful fledglings last year.
   In the photo of above, you can see one of the adults feeding one of the young.
   Ray Duffy reports seeing three hatchlings, and sent along a long-distance photo to show it.
   As he writes, hatchling on "left had head down but you see the body, middle [hatchling has] head up,  and right [hatchling] still low in the nest but you can see the head.
   Thanks, Ray.
   For posts on last year's Kearny nest, type "Kearny Ospreys" in the "Search" bar on the upper right of this blog.

    Sunday's free nature walk at DeKorte Park was a big hit, with nearly two dozen people on hand to learn about native plants, bugs of all sorts and botany in general a bird.
  The walk, sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society, was led by the inimitable Edith Wallace with an assist from Don Torino of BCAS. 
   (Thanks, Edith, and thanks to all who participated!)
   We will post more photos in the days ahead — including several butterfly species, an amazing spider and an equally amazing caterpillar.
   Oh, we also saw a Yellow Warbler bathing and a Baltimore Oriole just hangin' out.

  
  We had a nice cool noon walk on DeKorte Park's Marsh Discovery Trail Thursday. Fourteen of us had great looks at Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Egrets during the hour-long walk.
   Walk co-leader Denise Farrell of the Bergen County Audubon Society was generous with her birding knowledge and her spotting scope.
   Thanks to two very well-behaved youngsters who joined us, we also saw Muskrats and Blue Crabs and a slithery but harmless Garter Snake. 
   Alas, no Least Bittern or Black Skimmers, but we did have a Saddlebags Dragonfly and a butterfly or time.
   Nice group, nice time.
   Our next guided walks on the Marsh Discovery Trail will be at 10 a.m. and noon on Tuesday.

  
  Don't forget: we have a Special DeKorte Plant Walk with BCAS and botanist Edith Wallace.
   We will be looking for the plants that attract birds and butterflies, and which ones would work in your home gardens. We’ll keep an eye out for birds and butterflies, too.
   We’ll meet in the visitors’ parking lot at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. The walk is run by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society.
   Check meadowblog.net for last-minute updates and weather advisories.
   To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022.

 
   Earlier this month Cablevision filmed introductions to its Neighborhood Journal program at the Meadowland Commission home base, DeKorte Park.
   The show spotlights human interest stories unrelated to the Commission, but as the hosts introduce each segment they show what we have to offer here at DeKorte Park – the trails, the programs, the observatory and more.
   If you want to check it out, Neighborhood Journal will air every day for the next 12 days at the following times and Cablevision channels:
   8 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
   Bergen County – Channel 78 or 118
   Passaic and Morris counties — Channel 78 or 118

 
   Sorry for yet another Black Skimmer post but… Former NJMC Naturalist Don Smith found a Black Skimmer (above) that was unable to fly today near Laurel Hill in Secaucus.
   Workers told him of an injured bird that "looked like a Toucan."
   When Don located the bird, it was flapping its wings but could not get airborne.
    The Meadowlands Commission took the bird to the Raptor Trust in the Great Swamp for medical attention. We will update you on its condition.
    Other rescues included a Double-crested Cormorant (click here), a Snowy Egret (click here), and a Red-tailed Hawk (click here). 

  Our next Marsh Discovery Trail walk is noon tomorrow (Thursday). We'll look for the Least Bittern, plus Ruddies, terns, Black-crowned Night Herons and Ruddy Ducks.
   Meet at the entrance to MDT near the guard post at the entrance to DeKorte. Park in the first lot on your right after you enter the park.
   The walk is co-sponsored by the Bergen County Audubon Society. It runs roughly an hour unless the birds are really interesting.

    The Meadowlands Environment Center's Sue Lewicki gave us a heads-up that a Black Skimmer was working DeKorte's Shorebird Pool late this morning. We got this shot at 12:15. Two terns also fishing at DeKorte as well. Pic of one is below.  (Thanks, Sue!)

  Chris Takacs reports seeing seven Black Skimmers yesterday evening at DeKorte Park as they were "flying around the near pool of the Marsh Discovery Trail." That's the part of the Shorebird Pool closest to the buildings.
  NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse says that we should be seeing Black Skimmers sporadically over the next month.

   (Thanks, Chris!)

 
    When a tree service in Ridgefield was removing  a decaying cherry tree to make room for some outdoor exercise equipment for the public, they inadvertently cut down a branch filled with honeybees.
  Although the typical reaction to such an event would be to reach for the pesticide even though the swarming bees did not attack any of the workers, Ridgefield Environmental Commission member Karen Riede reached for her phone instead and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
   Did we know of any beekeepers who might come to the rescue?
   The short answer was yes –James Coppola of the Essex County Beekeepers Society, who has several hives by the Keegan Landfill in Kearny.
   Jim rushed to Ridgefield and rounded up several hundred bees.  No humans got stung, and the honeybees will be merged with another hive at a time when honeybee numbers have been in sharp decline because of colony collapse.
   Here's a tip of the NJMC hat to Jim Coppola for rescuing the bees, and to Karen Riede for making a good call.
   (Thanks, too, to Bruce Riede, for having the foresight to take the photos accompanying this post.)