Jim Wright, who keeps this blog for the Meadowlands Commission, also writes a twice-monthly column for the South Bergenite. His latest column is about Mike Newhouse (above) and the Meadowlands Commission’s bird-banding research program:

One of the coolest parts of my job is watching the Meadowlands Commission’s annual fall bird-banding research project.
For the past six autumns, NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse and his small group of volunteers have been briefly capturing birds in delicate netting, and then weighing them and determining their age and gender.
The birds are beautiful, even if the setting is old-style Meadowlands — in the parking lot of the closed Erie landfill, next to a PSE&G substation in North Arlington.
Since 2008, Mike and his volunteers have banded more than 22,000 birds in their research on migratory birds and micro-habitats.  They place a lightweight aluminum band with a unique nine-digit number on each bird’s right leg before releasing back into the wild. (Don’t worry: The band does not cause discomfort to the birds or affect its ability to fly.)
And since they enter their banding information into a national data base, researchers everywhere can benefit.
In some cases, Mike’s crew may recapture a bird they banded just a few days before. When that happens, they check to see if the bird’s weight has changed. If it has, that means that the landfill is providing a wonderful rest stop for birds as they fly south.
Bird-banding has made Mike realize just how much avian diversity there is on the Meadowlands’ former landfills: “Nobody knows the importance of landfills during bird migration. We’ve captured roughly 80 species on the landfill, which is really amazing. It’s an important habitat.” Continue reading →

Thought we’d take advantage of the beautiful weather on the first full day of autumn on Sunday. We put in at River Barge Park in Carlstadt (free boat ramp) and paddled up the Hackensack River a short ways  to Mill Creek Marsh.

Shot above is a fellow paddler entering the Hackensack River at Mill Creek Point — with the sports complex and MetLife Stadium in the background and a couple of Double-crested Cormorants on the pilings. Just a reminder that autumn is still a great time to kayak in the Meadowlands.

Made a quick trip to Laurel Hill to see if any Ospreys still were out and about. They weren’t, but a pair of young Peregrines put on quite a show above and along the cliffs — dive-bombing each other and zipping around full-tilt pretty high up. (Yes, one of them is upside-down in the photo above; and yes, the one in the photo at lower left appears to be carrying a feather in his talons.)

This, of course, made them tough to photograph (sorry about that). As far we could tell, one was banded and the other was not. They are likely part of the young birds that have been hanging out in the Meadowlands and along the Hackensack River for much of the summer.

Yesterday we asked, “Who is this ‘pillar of strength — from last Tuesday’s walk?”

Fran Duggan and Tiffany Giovia said it is a Wooly Bear Caterpillar. Patrick Carney says it is an Isabella Tiger Moth Caterpillar.

Ian Garrison covered all the bases:” Wooly bear. Cute little guy, too. He’ll make a nice tiger moth.”  Thanks to all who answered!

For those who guessed Wooly Bully, that was a bit of a sham.

(Thanks to Marie Longo for the pic!)

A walk alone reminds us why we love birding.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Nicol.

Don Torino, who leads a lot of our walks, also writes a weekly column for wildnewjersey.tv. His latest is on birding alone. Here’s a sample: :

It is usually by chance that I find myself alone with my binoculars pursuing a Peregrine Falcon through its aeronautical maneuvers over the Meadowlands or walking the woods listening for a Wood Thrush.

It happens as a blissful accident that I find a last minute free moment that allows me to venture out to a favorite birding spot. Sometimes it happens when a friend has a last minute change of plans that leaves me unaided to visit with the local birds.

Other times it may just be that I arrive early for an event, and discover a woodlot of Warblers contesting about high in the Oaks, that I begin my lone quest into nature for what may be just a short social call with my feathered friends.

As limited as my stay may be, something special seems to happen when I am silent and only the sounds of the winds through the leaves and the calls of the birds drift through the air; I begin to remember why I truly love the birds.

The link is here.

If you are interested in joining Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission for a two-hour “birding by boat” pontoon-boat cruise today or Thursday at 5 p,.m., contact us asap.  We have some seats available.

The boat ride along the Hackensack River and its marshes is two hours long and costs just a $15 donation. This is a beautiful time of year for a pontoon boat cruise on the river.

We’ll look for peregrine falcons, ospreys, northern harriers, various egrets and herons, plus diamondback terrapins.  Tour departs from the River Barge Park in Carlstadt. For pre-registration information or to rsvp, please contact Gaby Bennett-Meany at 201-460-4640 or Cathy Vonk at 201-460-4677.

Who is this ‘pillar of strength — from last Tuesday’s walk?

(Thanks to Marie Longo for the pic!)

The Meadowlands Commission is teaming with Bergen County Audubon Society to offer two terrific free guided walks in October — at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus on Sunday Oct. 6 at 10 a.m. and Losen Slote Park in Little Ferry on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m.

Details follow.

Continue reading →

Dr. Francisco Artigas, Director of the Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute, writes:

Standing on my car mirror is the predator feared by more species in the Meadowlands than any other.

One of the birds that NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse and his dauntless band of banders banded last week was the young male Indigo Bunting above.