Author Archives: NJMC

The Mother’s Day Walk

    Thanks to all who joined us on the first annual Mother's Day Walk in Ridgefield.
    The weather was great, and so was the walk.
   Roughly 20 people visited the thriving Ridgefield Nature Center, the Monk Parakeet Colony nearby, and the Skeetkill Creek Creek Marsh.
   Highlights included Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, several Northern Flickers (above), more than two-dozen nest-building Monk Parakeets, and a Short-billed Dowitcher.
    The Meadowlands Commission would like to thank Bruce and Karen Riede of the Ridgefield Environmental Commission and Don Torino and Bergen County Audubon for hosting the event with us.

Click here for more posts on Ridgefield and and here for more posts on Monk Parakeets.

Click "Continue reading…" for more photos and the full list of birds (thanks, Don!)

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Reminder: Mother’s Day Walk

The Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society are hosting a free Mother's Day Walk in Ridgefield on Sunday at 8 a.m.

The walk will also include a trip to Skeetkill Creek Marsh (above), with a stop to see the Monk Parakeet colony along the way.

Click immediately below for more information and directions.

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World Series of Birding, Jr. Edition

If you see a bunch of Eagle-eyed young birders birding in the Meadowlands on Saturday, don't be surprised.

Linda Gangi, a friend of this blog, fellow NJ Auduboner Kristin Mylecraine will be leading two Youth Teams for the World Series of Birding Day.
(Next week, Linda will let us know how well they did and what they saw.

Click here to learn more about the World Series of Birding.
Click "Continue reading …" to read more about the young WS birders.

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Peregrine Web Cam in Jersey City

The Peregrine Falcons under the Route 3 Bridge aren't the only game in town. Jersey City has nesting Peregrine Falcons — and a live Webcam to boot.

(Note: To see the streaming video, a Windows Explorer browser seems to work best.)

The link is here.

Laurel Hill Raven Update

The Common Ravens at Laurel Hill in Secaucus have been tending to at least two ravenettes in their nest.

In the photo above, Pop is flying down the cliff to get some food he stashed on a rock below the nest.

Earlier this week, we saw two young but large Common Ravens flapping their wings in the nest, preparing for their first flights. They will be flying any day now.
Previous posts on the Laurel Hill Ravens here.

American Robin fledgling

The two baby American Robins in the nest by the Meadowlands Environment Center fledged on Wednesday. Here, one waits on a tree branch for Mom to return with a worm. Pretty neat-looking bird.

Previous post is here.

Killdeer with Eggs

We passed through a North Arlington construction site on the way to check on the progress of a new Osprey nest, and the workers pointed out this Killdeer guarding her nest, right next to a chainlink fence.

The nest was just a few feet from a narrow roadway chock-a-block with construction vehicles and machinery. The noise was non-stop, but the Killdeer did not seem to mind.

When a construction worker approached the nest, the Killdeer scurried away, making that high-pitched whir they like to make.

We looked at the ground where the Killdeer had been, and discovered four well-hidden eggs. when we came back the next day, we couldn't find them though they were no doubt in view.

Nature Walk this Sunday

A reminder: The N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society are co-sponsoring a free Mother’s Day Walk that begins at the Ridgefield nature Center in Ridgefield on Sunday, May 10.