It’s not too early to mark your calendar for the 5th annual Meadowlands Festival of Birding, sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission.
The event is set for Saturday Sept. 13 and Sunday Sept. 14. (Above photo was taken at the Kearny Marsh.)
Click here for more information.
We saw these birds in the Kingsland Tidal Impoundment Wednesday while walking along the Marsh Discovery Trail. Could not get closer, but the educated guess is that they are short-billed dowitchers.
They have also been seen at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus.
If you thave any significant sightings anywhere in the Meadowlands, please let us know. If you would be willing to share a digital photo or two, even better.
A lot of people have heard of the monk parakeets of Edgewater or Fort Lee, but far fewer are aware of a colony in the Meadowlands, above the railroad tracks on a bridge along Railroad Avenue.
You'll hear their racket before you see them. They have been in Ridgefield for a several years, and are likely descendants of escaped birds. They're also called quaker parrots.
Read more about monk parakeets here.
Tree swallows are thriving in the Meadowlands once again, thanks to an innovative nesting box program.
And the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission now has the data to prove it.
With a huge boost from local scout troops, families and other groups, the Meadowlands Commission has erected some 250 nesting boxes in marshes throughout the 30.4-square-mile district.
This year, with the help of 
GPS devices, the Meadowlands Commission naturalists Mike Newhouse and Gabrielle Bennett-Meany are keeping track of tree-swallow activity in all of the nesting boxes.
They found that more than 60 percent were occupied by nesting pairs, with 610 eggs laid and more than 480 nestlings successfully fledged as of July 15.
Click "Continue reading…" for more images and information.
The impoundment next to the Meadowlands Environment Center at DeKorte Park Plaza in Lyndhurst is a great spot to watch egrets — especially when water levels are low.
But when the impoundment fills with water, the egrets have had no place to perch — until now.
Last week, NJMC naturalists imported several sturdy branches and sunk them into the mud, in hopes they will attract egrets?
The question now is, how will the egrets respond?
Stay tuned.
Several shorebirds were zipping around the impoundment by Meadowlands Commission headquarters at Dekorte Park on Monday and Tuesday morning.
The star of the show was a black skimmer, whose bill cut through the surface of the water like a knife. Great views were available from the boardwalk by the Environment Center on Monday.
More on black skimmers here.
Two great places for nature walks are at the north end of the Meadowlands District in Little Ferry — the BCUA Nature Preserve and Losen Slote Creek Park.
The nature preserve is part of an old brick-making site that provided the bricks for major cities along the East Coast.
After the brick factory went out of business a long time ago, the land reverted to its natural state, with a clay pit becoming a large pond — Mehrhof Pond.
It’s a beautiful place, and known amongst birders for the waterfowl it attracts — notably ruddy ducks and other waterfowl by the hundreds in November.
The one caveat is that because the nature preserve is located on Bergen County Utilities Authority property, it is inaccessible without advance permission. You need to go as part of an organized group. You need advance permission to gain admittance. You need to sign an insurance waiver. And it’s not open on weekends or holidays.
But the preserve is worth the effort. Because it is not open to the public — for safety, security and insurance reasons — it is well-kept and largely undisturbed.
On a recent trip I saw quite a few amazing sights, including a gorgeous Eastern box turtle and a field full of cedar waxwings.
Click "Continue reading" for more information and a look at more images from the BCUA preserve.
ANSWER: Killdeer (foreground) with killfawn.
Bad joke, cool birds.
Mill Creek Marsh is a little hard to find, but it is definitely worth the effort.
It is the one place I’d go if I had to get a photo of a snowy egret in a hurry.
They are abundant and are typically in range of a decent telephoto lens.
Mill Creek Marsh is also amazing because it is home to a "forest" of cedar stumps — including some that are hundreds of years old.
Click here for directions and more information.
I was there at low tide the other day and took a bunch of shots.
Click "Continue reading" for more photos.
The Kearny marsh is a gem located just off Schuyler Avenue in — where else — Kearny. You access the marsh by turning into Gunnell Oval Park and driving around back.
The 300-acre marsh is significant because, as the only freshwater wetlands in the Meadowlands District, it provides a major stopover for migrating waterfowl.
This time of year, it is decidedly laid back, with dragonflies a-plenty, painted turtles sunning themselves, and some nifty plants — Meadow salsify and black raspberries.
For directions and more information on Kearny Marsh, click here.
Click "Continue reading" to see more images and read more about the marsh.