Sunday's Great Backyard Bird Count/Valentine's Walk at DeKorte Park drew two dozen people looking for birds and a little fresh air.
   The birds cooperated big time — including eight duck species and four raptor species, a Northern Shrike and a Ring-necked Pheasant.

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     Just a reminder that the Third-Tuesday-of-the-Month Nature Walk is at Harrier Meadow in North Arlington on Feb. 16 at 10 a.m.
   We will also likely do a little birding along Disposal Road, which produced a nice little highlight reel on the Sunday Walk — including some nice looks at the Northern Shrike.
   (The photo above is from the Christmas Bird Count, but it's a reminder to dress for snow and other nasty weather — birders go out in most conditions.)
   The guided walk is free.

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    What can you say about a bird walk that included a Bald Eagle, a Rough-legged Hawk, Fox Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows — topped off with a Northern Harrier and a Northern Shrike? 

   Those were the highlights from today's Great Backyard Bird Count/Valentine's Walk sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society.

   The shrike  photo above is from today, just past noon on Disposal Road.

    We will post the full list (courtesy of Bergen County Audubon) and more pix later in the week.

   A big thank you to the two-dozen people who came out to the snow-covered Meadowlands for this walk!

     Our next nature walk is a special  event this Sunday, February 14, at 10 a.m.  We are holding the Great Backyard Bird Count/Valentine’s Day Bird Walk with the Bergen County Audubon Society.

    This free two-hour guided nature walk starts outside the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, and runs from 10 a.m.

  We’ll walk in the square-mile park as time allows, looking for (and counting) wintering waterfowl and other birds of note.

  The walk is run by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society.

   To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022.

   If you are looking for a guidebook that covers the parks and natural areas of the Meadowlands and beyond, contact us for a free copy of  “Birding and Wildlife Trails: Meadowlands and More” guidebook.

 To date, the NJMC has distributed more than 43,000 English- and Spanish-language copies of the free color guide, including to locations as far away as Singapore and Tel Aviv.The guidebook was coordinated by the New Jersey Audubon Society, and it's a great publication.

   To request copies of the "Birds of the Meadowlands" brochure in English or Spanish — or other eco-tourism materials — contact the NJMC at (201) 460-4694 or info@njmeadowlands.gov.

     DeKorte Park, with its square mile of land and tidal impoundments, is open to all from 8 a.m. to dusk, including dogs on leashes, but nearby former landfills are off-limits to the public, for all sorts of reasons, from public safety to on-going remediation work.

     These open spaces are also magnets Northern Harriers and other raptors (as well as birds like the Northern Shrike), and trespassing is illegal.  

    Last month, an alert birder saw someone trespassing on the former Kingsland Landfill. The birder notified us, and security staff for that site found the person and made sure he left the property immediately.

    If you see anyone trespassing on the open areas along Valleybrook Avenue or on the Kingsland Landfill (along Disposal Road on the other side of the road from DeKorte Park and the Carillon), don't hesitate to call the site's security office at 201-896-8100. 

   Similarly, if you see anyone trespassing on the Erie Landfill or Harrier Meadow (along Disposal Road on the same  side of the road from DeKorte Park and the Carillon,please contact the NJMC's Angelo Urato at 201-638-7064.

   Trespassers can include dog-walkers, birders, photographers, hikers and any sort of motorized vehicles.

    Who are these two ducks decked out in winter plumage?

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    Our next nature walk is this Sunday, February 14, at 10 a.m.– the Great Backyard Bird Count/Valentine’s Day Bird Walk with the Bergen County Audubon Society.

    This free two-hour guided nature walk starts outside the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, and runs from 10 a.m.

   We’ll walk in the square-mile park as time allows, looking for (and counting) wintering waterfowl, raptors and other miscellaneous birds of note.

   Who knows? maybe even the Northern Shrike (above, left) will manage to put in a surprise appearance.

  The walk is run by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society.

   To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022.

   Kevin Bolton took this Canvasback shot last week at DeKorte, using a digiscoping rig. Here is the link to Kevin's Web page. (Thanks, Kevin!)

    Ron Shields took these photos of a female (above) and  a male Common Merganser at the Kearny Marsh  this past week. (Thanks, Ron!)