The year 2009 marked the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's 40th anniversary and a major expansion of our nature programs. We thought we'd celebrate by looking back at 2009, month by month.
Here are some NJMC nature highlights from February 2009:
February 2: Groundhog Video for Groundhog Day
February 3: Ducks Galore ( & two kinds of Green-winged Teal)
February 9: Raven's Nest, Secaucus
February 19: The Coots of Kearny (Video)
February 23: About the Cedar Stumps
We are pleased to announce that on Friday, this blog reached 100,000 page views.
We officially launched the blog in July 2008 as part of our efforts to highlight and celebrate all of the Meadowlands' natural wonders, and we have been heartened by your response. We hit 50,000 hits in 10 months, and 100,000 in less than 18 months.
We'd like to thank everyone who has been following this blog, and all those who have contributed bird sightings, photos and suggestions.
We look forward to many exciting posts ahead. With your help, we just might top the Northern Wheatear, Wilson's Phalarope and Northern Shrike of the last four months.
Happy holidays.
The year 2009 marked the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission's 40th anniversary and a major expansion of our nature programs. We thought we'd celebrate by looking back at 2009, month by month, beginning with January and the Snowy Owls.
We'll provide links to the top bird sightings and blog posts of January here –as you can see, it was a great month for viewing raptors:
January 5: Raptor Prowl w/Snowy Owl
January 27: Raptor Ramble Results
The Lower Hudson Count is still on tomorrow. We will report our sightings during the week.
Starting tomorrow, we are looking back at the highlights from the Meadowlands Blog from the Meadowlands Commission's 40th anniversary year, month by month.
We'll include the Snowy Owls, Rough-legged Hawks, Black-necked Stilt, Glossy Ibis, Northern Wheatear, Soras, and Northern Shrike. Hope you enjoy it!
Julie McCall reports: "This morning I went out to Disposal Road to look for the shrike, figuring if I didn't see it before the snow gets here, I never would.
"I joined a group of friendly birders at the small parking area just past the Carillon at around 9 a.m., and they had seen the bird several times already.
" The bird was spotted again, and someone was kind enough to let me get views through their scope. As previously reported, the shrike was spending its time among trees behind the pond. The bird was very active this morning, and by 9:30 had headed off in the vague direction of Valley Brook.
"It's quite a pretty bird, and I found myself wishing I had a digiscoping set-up, because in the overcast light it really stood out from the surrounding brown branches, phrags, and leaves.
"A quick walk to the environmental center and back to Disposal Road yielded some mallards, canada geese, a bufflehead, white-throated sparrows, many robins, and a pair of downy woodpeckers that were very perturbed by my existence.
"There was also at least one red-tailed hawk on Disposal Road. It was perched on a post near the Erie landfill as I came in, and I spotted one kiting over the Kingsland landfill on my way out." (Thanks, Julie!)
Mike Britt reports:
"The Northern Shrike continued Friday behind the retention pond along Disposal Road. At one point, Chris Takacs and I watched it tail-chase a Mockingbird for a good 30 seconds.
"Other birds in the Meadowlands Friday included N. Harriers along Disposal, and the Mill Creek Marsh/Point area, an adult Bald Eagle at Mill Creek Point, and Mill Creek Marsh was loaded with sparrows (including a handful of Fox and a single immature White-crowned) and RC Kinglets."
(Thanks, Mike!)
Please e-mail Jim Wright here if you see the shrike, and I will update the blog.
Chris Takacs saw the Northern Shrike for about 10 minutes, around 2:30 p.m. It was by the retention pond across from Carillon on DeKorte Road. (Thanks, Chris!)
The bird has now been seen for eight days in a row. Scroll down for more Shrike posts.
We stopped by the Kearny Marsh yesterday by Gunnell Oval, in hopes of finding some Bald Eagles seen in the vicinity.
We didn't see any eagles, but the female Common Merg (above) popped up, and we had plenty of American Coots, as well as distant Gadwall and Green-winged Teal.
Water levels are still high, and the marsh has not iced over yet.
As of Thursday, the Northern Shrike has been seen seven days in a row off Disposal Road.
If you are planning to look for this bird, we thought we'd offer a few bits of pertinent info.
The bird has been seen several places on 
both sides of Disposal Road, mostly on the former landfills on the North Arlington side of the AMVETS Carillon (toward Schuyler Avenue).
The former landfill on the Carillon side of the road is the Erie landfill. The former landfill across the road is Kingsland. (Both landfills are off-limits, and no trespassing is allowed.)
The shrike has been seen several times on the far side of the Kingsland retention pond, and several times on the Black Locust near the top of the Kingsland Landfill.
When it is visible, the bird is typically seen perched high in a bare tree — much like the silhouetted shot at top of the post, taken on Wednesday.
The bird can perch for a few minutes at a time, and hunts from that perch like a flycatcher, possibly returning to the same spot. But it more often seems to be out of view entirely, so patience is a virtue.
Disposal Road does get traffic, so beware of vehicles.
Dress warm; it can be pretty cold out there these days.
If you do see the bird, please e-mail Jim Wright here, and he will post the news to the blog. You can also e-mail him if you have questions, and he will try to get back to you as soon as he can.
Ray Duffy took a nice video early in the shrike's stay. It is here. (Thanks, Ray.)
Good luck!
(Scroll down for earlier posts, which contain directions to Disposal Road and more shrike info.)