We have a full slate of events over the next couple of weeks — in addition to this weekend's Festival of Birding.The list includes:

Tuesday, Sept.  15, 10 a.m.
Bird Walk with Bergen County Audubon Society
   This free event starts at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst and runs from 10 a.m. to noon. We will look for shorebirds, waders, Ospreys and migrants – plus any butterflies we encounter. Meet in front of the Meadowlands Environment Center.  To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at 201-636-4022 or greatauk4@aol.com. 

   Click "Continue reading … " to learn about a Lyndhurst slide show about the Meadowlands, a Harrier Meadow Walk on Sept. 22, and a geology hike up Laurel Hill in Secaucus on Sept. 26.

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  Publish

   Jerry Golub, a stalwart volunteer who does heron surveys for the Harbor Herons Project, passed along this shot of a Yellow-crowned Night Heron photographed yesterday near Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area — looks like Laurel Hill in the background. Thanks, Jerry!

    Just a reminder that there are a limited number of tickets left for this weekend's Sixth Annual “Meadowlands Festival of Birding.”

    The two-day event includes field trips on foot and by boat, birding basics for beginners and loaner binoculars, a keynote lecture on migration by Dr. Robert DeCandido, a butterfly program, a raptor show, and much more.

    The festivities start early Saturday morning at the NJMC’s Meadowlands Environment Center, in DeKorte Park, and include early morning bird-banding at Harrier Meadow – a 70-acre natural area usually closed to the public – and excursions on the river and to other unique sites.

    The $40 registration fee benefits festival organizers the Hackensack Riverkeeper and New Jersey Audubon Society, and includes breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Ages 10 to 17 are free.

    To purchase tickets call the Riverkeeper at 201-968-0808 or click here. 

   Mike Britt reports: "I know how ridiculous this sounds but there was a Snowy Owl on the beach at Caven Point on Sunday, Aug. 20 )… I wonder if the wintering bird simply summered?
 
  "I know that they have lingered at Logan Airport in Boston until July in the past…but an August bird in Jersey…"
 
  A photo of the bird is in wildnewjersey.tv — link is here .
 

A few updates from over the weekend:

 090509: Ray Duffy reports: I did a walk around sunset tonight at the Mill Creek Point Boardwalk.  I had a Sora at about 5 yards running around and feeding just past the 2nd debris gate for about 10 minutes.  I also had a Caspian Tern. Hopefully, a good sign for Birding Fest.

090509: Neil Maruca reports: At DeKorte Park, Yellow Crown Night Heron (imm), Short Billed Dowitcher, Peregrine Arrived Migrants: 18 Blue-winged Teal, 21 Northern Shoveler, 6 Green-winged Teal.

    Click "Continue reading…" for the rest of Neil's report and an earlier Sept. report.

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    Sunday was perfect weather for NJ MC’s twice-monthly nature walk with Bergen County Audubon Society.

   We leisurely walked out to the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve, then around the Marsh Discovery Trail, with a soundtrack provided by phragmites rustling in the light September breeze.

   The tide could have been lower for shorebird viewing, but what we missed in quantity we made up for in quality – including (for some of us) an immature Little Blue Heron, a Short-Billed Dowitcher and a Forster's Tern. 

  Also had a hard-to-identify shorebird (pictured here)  swimming in the Shorebird Pool.

   We also had great looks at a clear-winged moth and several butterfly species at the butterfly garden.

    Click "Continue reading…" for a complete list, plus more pix.

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  Our next  Bird Walk with Bergen County Audubon Society is this Sunday — Sept. 6 — at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.

   The low-keyed event runs from 10 a.m. to noon.

   We will look for shorebirds, waders, Ospreys and migrants – plus any butterflies we encounter. Park in the first lot and meet in front of the Meadowlands Environment Center (first building on your left).

   The event will be held rain or shine. Lightning cancels. (Check this blog for updates.)

   To rsvp, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-636-4022. 

   Free public viewing nights at the William D. McDowell Observatory are every Monday and Wednesday evening, weather permitting.

   With September upon us and daylight hours growing shorter, the observatory will open an hour earlier, at 8 p.m.

  Each evening two major objects in the night sky will be viewed plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.

    If thunderstorms are in the area or predicted during these hours we may not be able to open.

   Click "Continue reading…" for the complete September schedule and more info.

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