The Meadowlands Blog

TUESDAY TEASER 033109

  Can you identify this bird?

   For answer, click on "Continue reading..." immediately below.

   For more Tuesday Teasers, click here.

Oops

  
    Last week, we posted an item featuring the above photo of a Red-tailed Hawk appearing to drag-race a "jumbo jet."
    A hawk-eyed reader points out that the aircraft in question was actually a DeHavilland Canada DHC-8-402Q Dash 8.
   The Meadowlands Blog regrets the error, and eagerly awaits enrolling in a "Aircraft ID for Beginners" course.

Another Sign of Spring

   NJMC staffer Marc Schrieks took this shot of Crocuses at DeKorte Park last week.

Skeetkill Marsh Clean-Up: Thank You!

                                                        Photos by Brian Aberback/NJMC

More than 50 middle school students, local businesspeople and Ridgefield residents joined forces on Thursday to clean the Skeetkill Marsh as part of the Meadowlands Conservation Trust’s (MCT) annual Clean-Up Day.  

      The cleanup was organized as part of the MCT’s Park Stewardship Program, which recruits volunteers from corporations, schools, civic clubs and other organizations for clean up and site maintenance projects.

     Volunteers spent three hours removing more than 50 bags of litter from around the marsh and public sitting area, including food wrappers, soda bottles, metal rope, plaster and a truck tire.

   Click "Continue reading..." for more information and clean-up photos.

April Observatory schedule

 
   The William D. McDowell Observatory is  open to the public for viewing the night sky from 8 to 10 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.

   Click here for more information about the observatory and the upcoming viewing schedule.

A pair of cormorants

    By the Barge Club in Carlstadt, where the Meadowlands Commission is going to build a new public boat launch, the cormorants are back in full force.
      More on Double-Crested Cormorants here.

Snipes Park, Secaucus

 

                                                                                                                                                                                       One of the nifty unsung public parks in the Meadowlands is Snipes Park in Secaucus, a riverfront park that offers great views of the Hackensack  and any birds that might be on or above the river.
    The park is located on the Meadowlands Parkway behind WWOR. You'll see signs just to the left of WWOR's gated parking lot.
   On a recent trip, we got some great looks at Buffleheads floating down the Hackensack. There are barbecue grills, picnic tables, benches and an ADA-compatible playground.

   Now that the weather is getting warmer, this is a nice place to chill.

    Click "Continue reading ..." for more pix of the park and its neighbors.

TUESDAY TEASER 032409

   Can you identify this bird?

   For answer, click on "Continue reading..." immediately below.

  For more Tuesday Teasers, click here.

K Rations

     We saw this American Kestrel arrive with dinner earlier this month, a reminder of nature's ever-present food chain in action.
   She hunts the fields off Valley Brook Avenue on a regular basis.

Birding for Beginners

 

  The Meadowlands Commission is partnering with Bergen County Audubon Society for its major March birding event.

    "Birding for Beginners" will be held on Sunday (March 29) from 1 to 3 p.m. at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.

    You can learn how to get started birding, learn about optics, and how to identify birds.  We will begin indoors and then venture outside to use our new skills.

 

   Registration is required for this free event.

   Please contact Don Torino at Bergen County Audubon Society at 201-636-4022 or email here.

   Stay tuned for other upcoming events, including a Skeetkill Marsh clean-up in March.

 

 

High Fliers

   We took this shot of a drag race between a Redtail and a jumbo jet earlier this month in North Arlington...

APRIL WALK OF THE MONTH: Harrier Meadow

    On Friday, April 3, five days after the free Birding for Beginners Course at DeKorte,  NJMC naturalists are leading a free, 90-minute bird walk likely to include an influx of migrating waterfowl, sparrows and maybe some early shorebirds.

   Tree swallows will also be returning and raptors should be in view. A bird-banding demonstration is also possible, depending on migration patterns.

    The 10 a.m. walk is open on a first-come, first-accepted basis, and space is limited.  Please RSVP to Mike Newhouse, 201-460-2002, michael.newhouse@njmeadowlands.gov.

    Click "Continue reading..." for walk details and photos taken just this month at Harrier Meadow.