Here are the tallies as of Sept. 30 in the Meadowlands Big Year contest for 2013. We have a couple of tight competitions.

Congrats to all for competing. Most of the tallies are up from last year at this time.

We hope you are having fun near to home, and seeing lots of great birds.

Keep in mind that some birders are in the Meadowlands all the time, and others get here occasionally, so their birdage may differ drastically.

If your name’s not on the list and you’d like to compete, please e-mail Jim Wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov. It’s still not too late! Sign up now!

Here is the leader board as of  Sept. 30:
1. Mike Newhouse 200 (NJMC, setting a target number for competitors.)
2. Chris Takacs: 199, (2012 reigning champion, ineligible for prizes
in 2013 as a result, lives in district)
3. Ray Duffy, 175 (in district)
4. Jackie DeMarco, 157 (out of district)
5. Mike Wolfe, 158 species (out of district)
6. Dennis Cheeseman, 155 (out of district)
7. Jim Wright,  146  (NJMC staff, ineligible for prizes)
8. Zach Batren, 144 (out of district)
9. Mike Turso 138 (out of district)
10. Rob Fanning 131  (out of district)
11. Julie McCall, 127 (in district).
12. Oliver Stringham, 125  (in district)
13.  Roy Woodford 124 (out of district)

Link to Big Year totals last year at the end of September is here.

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s Flyway Gallery in DeKorte Park is hosting the Art Association of Rutherford’s 66th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, now through Friday, Nov. 29.

An awards reception is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is free, and open to the public.

The exhibit features three-dozen pieces that fall into five categories: Oil/Acrylic, Watercolor, Photography, Computer Manipulated Art and Other Media. Works range from photographs and paintings of nature scenes and wildlife to pastel portraits.

The artists include folks from the Meadowlands as well as other southern Bergen County communities and some Essex County residents. The watercolor above is “Edge of the Woods,” by John Hardin of Rutherford. Continue reading →

Our next free guided walk with Bergen County Audubon Society is Sunday at 10 a.m. at Mill Creek Marsh — an amazing place with great waterfowl, egrets, raptors and ancient Atlantic White Cedar stumps. It is especially beautiful this time of year.  (Just look at Regina Geoghan’s recent post below.)

Details follow. Continue reading →

Regina Geoghan was nice enough to share some of her recent images from Mill Creek Marsh, including the selection of scenics below.  As Regina says, now is “a lovely time of year to visit Mill Creek Marsh for a walk.” (Thanks, Regina!)

This photo is called “Foggy Morning, Freedom Tower,” by Michael Maddaloni, a.k.a. “Sunset Mike.”

Mike writes: “Here’s a sunrise from Monday. It was foggy all around Valley Brook — been waiting for a day like that to catch WTC1.”   (Thanks, Mike!)

Charley West and a couple of other crack birders did a “Gilligan’s Island”  (three-hour)  tour of DeKorte and  environs, including the Clay Avenue Wetlands, from 8 to 11 a.m. this morning. They came up with an awesome list of 54 species, which follows.

We joined them for a  few minutes on the Kingsland Overlook, and saw lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets and Cedar Waxwings in the Junipers, a Brown Thrasher, umpteen Yellow-rumps and Palm Warblers, plus several other nice birds.  Thanks, Charley! (And thanks to Dennis Cheesman for the shot of the Golden-crowned Kinglet, taken at lunchtime today on Kingsland — a Kingsland kinglet.)

Continue reading →

Dr. Ross Feltes, the Meadowlands Commission’s Supervisor of Natural Resources Management, pointed out last week that several Dogbane Moth Caterpillars were going to town on the Indian Hemp in Harrier Meadow.

He sure was right. There had to be at least a dozen caterpillars devouring the leaves. Here are some pix of same. The Indian Hemp seed pods resemble milkweed seed pods.  (Thanks, Ross!)

What kind of warbler is this? We think the photo above says it all, except that yesterday’s teaser asked what other kind of warbler it was. Literally speaking, the bird in yeserday’s photo is also a palm warbler.

(Please, no need to groan. It was a toughie, and no one answered correctly — though Dennis Cheeseman did mention something about a bird in the hand.)

You may be interested to know that this lucky warbler is also part of our new avian literacy program (below). This bird can’t read yet, but it can speak a form of pigeon English.

Congrats to all who answered the Blackburnian part correctly — this was a tough question to start out Tuesday Teaser-palooza with — some will be far easier. Sorry about that!

We are thinking that this is a migrating Osprey that stopped by the Shorebird Pool for an early lunch yesterday. Even Ospreys like Disposal Road.

Get out your binoculars — and send us your Meadowlands Big Year totals as of Sept. 30!

The goal is to see as many different bird species as possible in the 14 towns of the Meadowlands District over the course of 2013 — and also to have fun birding.

To ensure a level playing field, all birds must be seen in areas open to the public, or on guided walks or banding events in such places as Harrier Meadow or the back of the Kingsland Landfill.