Natalie Gregorio shared this photo from yesterday evening, with the comment:
“What a beauty.”
Ace birder Chris Takacs reports that last night the bird arrived around 6:30 p.m.
Please park in the first lot, just past the guardhouse.
Cranes in the Meadowlands
Bruno Rondi of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission has been photographing some of the beautiful cranes of the district.
We are posting a few of Bruno’ s shots here. No wonder Bruno finds cranes so uplifting. (Thanks, Bruno!)
Happy April Fools Day!
Marsh Memories: Don Torino
Five years ago, as part of the N.J. Meadowlands Commission’s Oral History Project, we interviewed lots of folks about the region in the old days. We are going to reprint the best of them here, every Tuesday, for 11 weeks. This week: Don Torino, president of the Bergen county Audubon Society.
Long-time Meadowlands resident Don Torino recalls:
I moved to Moonachie from Hackensack when I was twelve years old, Although Moonachie was just a few miles from Hackensack it was a different world.
One of my first Memories was having to stop our car on Redneck Avenue, waiting for the goats and sheep to cross the road.
I also remember watching horses trotting along Moonachie Ave. as they went into Teterboro Woods to ride along the beautiful trails they had used for many years.
Click “Continue reading …” to read more of Don’s reminiscences. Continue reading
Special Edition Tuesday Teaser: Unusual Blackbird
Can you identify this rare yellow-footed blackbird?
If not, happy April Fools Day!
Three Nifty Nature Events This Sunday@ DeKorte
This Sunday, There’s a trifecta of nifty nature events in DeKorte Park this Sunday — a free first Sunday of the Month walk at 10 a.m., a Birding for Beginners class at 1 p.m., and owl program featuring live owls beginning at 2 p.m.
We ran the photo on left in a pitiful effort to get your attention.
Details for the three events follow.
Mill Creek Marsh Open Dawn to Dusk
Just in case you were wondering, Mill Creek marsh is open again, from dawn to dusk daily.
Ospreys on Nest
After a few days’ absence, one osprey has been replaced by two on the Valley Brook Ave. nest. Let’s see how long these two stay.
Again, if you see Ospreys displaying nesting behavior in the Meadowlands, please let this blog know (and take pix, too!)…
Yellow-headed Blackbird Continues @DeKorte
Chris Takacs writes:
Yellow-headed Blackbird is still being seen in DeKorte Park.
On Sunday we had 5 birders in the rain watching the blackbirds stage on Kingsland Overlook at 6 p.m.
The YHBL was seen but not heard with Brown-headed Cowbirds in one tree before it flew to roost. Reportedly it was seen Saturday afternoon on Disposal Road in the rain.
It seems like the best chance to see the bird is in the evening starting at 5:30 pm.
(Thanks Chris, and thanks again to Muhammad Faizan for the photo above!)
Link to post with more Muhammad’s pix of the bird is here.
Our Latest Annual Report Is Here!
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s latest annual report is hot off the presses, and also available for download below. It’s a large file (4 megs) by nature, so it may take a little while to download.
The report features some neat photos, including a six-pack on the last page featuring photos by Ron Shields, Dennis Cheeseman and Regina Geoghan. The other three originally appeared on this blog.
(Thanks, Ron, Dennis and Regina!)
Monk Parakeet Heaven
If you love watching Monk Parakeets, you have to head over to Ridgefield and see all the Monk Parakeets sunning themselves in the trees near their nesting areas. We counted 20 at once yesterday, including several pairs of love birds.
By the way, directions to the Monk Parakeet colony in Ridge field are in the right-hand column of this blog.
How many Monk Parkakeets can you see in the photo below?
