A quick walk along the Marsh Discovery Trail this afteroon yielded a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, A Redtail, a Northern Harrier, 40+ Ruddies, 8 Bufflehead, a Black Duck, several Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Northern Flicker.
Very High Tides These Days
If you've been to DeKorte in late afternoon these days, you've noticed some really high tides — higher than predicted — and low tides that aren't low at all.
NJMC Naturalist Brett Bragin 
provided the above graphic, and wrote: "There were coastal flood warnings posted for last night's high tide. See the predicted vs. actual tides measured at The Battery [above]."
This afternoon, a few parts of the Discovery Trail (see photo at right) were under water. If not for the floating boardwalk, far more of the trail would have been inaccessible.
Link to claculating the tides at DeKorte is here. High tides were around 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. today. They are an hour later each day, with low tide in the middle.
Kearny Marsh Fish Story
Ron Shields saw this fish in the Kearny Marsh and wondered what it is.
NJMC Naturalist Brett Bragin supplied the answer:
"That looks like a gizzard shad to me. I recall catching a few adult gizzard shad in Kearny FW marsh in 1987 or 1988.
"As usual, it is hard to do a positive ID from just a photograph."
Rest of post follows.
Bird Report 111110: Clay Avenue Wetlands, Lyndhurst
Ray Duffy says: "I had a female Hooded Merganser at Clay Ave Marsh this a.m. as well as 8 Greater Yellowlegs and a Lesser Yellowlegs." (Thanks, Ray!)
Wonderful Blog Post on Mill Creek Marsh
Honoring Our Veterans
If you're at DeKorte Park today, please stop by the AMVETS Carillon on Disposal Road (at the beginning of the Transco Trail) and spend a moment in silence to honor our veterans and their contributions to our nation.
The carillon, which sports brand-new flags honoring our armed forces, sounds every 15 minutes.
Next Tuesday: Mill Creek Marsh Walk
Our next free walk is next Tuesday morning at Mill Creek Marsh, a former Phragmites marsh in Secaucus that the Meadowlands Commission remediated more than a decade ago.
The park offers comfortable walking trails, some nice views of Manhattan and lots of birds.
The Green-winged Teal are back big-time, occasionally harassed by a Northern Harrier, and Northern Shovelers other waterfowl are gaining numbers as well.
The walk is sponsored by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society.
Details follow.
Male Bufflehead, Kearny Marsh
Ron Shields took this photo of a male Bufflehead last week at Kearny Marsh. He was hanging with two females and some Ruddies.
Ron says: "It's the first time this fall that I've seen them in the Kearny Marsh. Could they possibly be the same ducks from DeKorte?" (Thanks, Ron!)
The Harrier Meadow Walk: The Full List
With the help of Julie McCall, we have compiled a list of 36 bird species seen on our Harrier Meadow Nature Walk on Sunday.
As so often happens, the walk was noteworthy for some birds we expected to see but didn't — including a Belted Kingfisher and a Great Blue Heron. Also forgot to check the distant telephone poles in North Arlington for Rock Pigeon, but so it goes.
We did get some great views of raptors, including this Northern Harrier photographed during the walk.
We compiled the list through eBird, which made the process simple. "Meadowlands IBA," by the way, stands for "Meadowlands, Important Bird Area."
The walk was sponsored by the Meadowlands Commision and the Bergen County Audubon Society.
Full list follows.
