The Meadowlands Blog

    We are officially envious of photographer Ron Shields, who took these hard-to-get photos of the Black Skimmer earlier this week (either Monday or Tuesday) during the evening from the Nature Trail just beyond the first gazebo at DeKorte Park. 

    Ron writes: "Two skimmers caught me by surprise and flew by me before I could react with my camera.  Isn't that usually the case?  Luckily, one bird made a return visit a few minutes later and I captured these images as it flew by me from left to right. 

   "I used a Canon 5D with a 400mm f5.6 lens handheld.  Lighting was tough given the time of day and overcast sky."

   Click "Continue reading..." to see more of Ron's Black Skimmer shots.

Black-necked Stilt at Harrier Meadow (updated)

  

We had a great bird walk this morning, and saw the Black-Necked Stilt in three tidal impoundments -- after a bit of hunting.
   The little guy really gets around.

   We saw him again late this afternoon, and we are set for
an early morning walk on Thursday, meeting at Harrier at 7. 
    We are also seeing Blue-wing Teal, Harrier, Gadwall, Ruddy, Black-Crowned Night Heron, Greater Yellowlegs and other good birds at Harrier.

   E-mail us if you are interested in this walk, and we'll send you directions.

Black-necked Stilt Update, Tuesday 4:30 p.m.

 

     The small group of birders who came out at two o'clock on Tuesday had some good views of the Black-necked Stilt, and (strength in numbers) several other solid birds as well, including Northern Harrier and Blue-winged Teal.
      We will be meeting at the entrance to Harrier Meadow in North Arlington at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday for another "winging it" bird walk. RSVP us here if you can attend.
     Click "Continue reading.."  for the entire 12-bird highlight reel.

The Black-necked Stilt continues at Harrier

   We saw the Black-necked Stilt at Harrier Meadow in North Arlington again this morning.
   We are hoping he sticks around, but there is no guarantee. With that in mind, we are going to set up a walk for this afternoon and another 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
    E-mail us if you are interested. I will repost this same post as I get more information.

Black-necked Stilt at Harrier Meadow

    We saw this Black-necked Stilt at Harrier Meadow today -- with three Wood Ducks a couple of tidal pools over. 
    He was calling up quite a storm and fishing the shallows.

  More on Black-necked Stilts here.

    Click "Continue reading..." for more shots of today's Stilt.

Glossy Ibis and friend

   We saw these guys hanging out at Harrier Meadow on Friday. That's a Glossy Ibis on the left and a Snowy Egret on the right, for those keeping score at home.

   We have not seen the Glossy Ibis today, but if we do, we will send out an e-mail and have a walk for anyone who wants to see this beautiful bird. 

   E-mail Jim Wright here if you want to have your name added to the e-mail alert list.  

TUESDAY TEASER 030309

   

Can you find a Long-Eared Owl in this photo? Two? Three?

   Click here for more Tuesday Teasers.

    Click "Continue reading" for the answer and for more about this threatened species in New Jersey.

Top Snowy, Harrier & Rough-legged Shots

  

Birder-photographer Kevin Watson took several top-notch Snowy Owl, Northern Harrier and Rough-legged Hawk shots in the Meadowlands during the past week.
   You can see them here.

EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL

   With all the fuss over the Snowy Owl(s), another recent arrival has gotten short shrift.
   A Eurasian Green-winged Teal (Common Teal) is in the tidal impoundment across the parking lot from the new science building and observatory in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
   He has been a regular winter visitor for roughly a decade, and you typically can get great views of him when the tide is low...
   More on the Eurasian Green-winged Teal here.

   To calculate the tides at the DeKorte tidal impoundments, click here, look up Hackensack River, Amtrak RR, swing bridge, punch in the appropriate information -- then add roughly 90 minutes...  Alas, low tides for the next couple of days appear to be just before dawn and after sunset...

PHOTOGRAPHING OWLS

   Several weeks ago, after a Snowy Owl was seen (and photographed) at Liberty State Park, New Jersey birders got into a lively debate about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of using flash photography when taking pictures of owls.
      Now that Snowy Owls have been seen regularly in the Meadowlands, the debate takes on a little more immediacy.
   We asked David Johnson, head of the Global Owl Project, for his thoughts.
   Here's the word: 

    "From a biological perspective, I would not think that the camera flash would be much of an issue," says David. "There is lightning where many of the owls live, and such a flash is very short-lived.  The focus should not be on the flash, per se, but rather on the general disturbance of people being close to the owl. " ...

   Click "Continue reading ..." for  more of David Johnson's comments on photographing owls.

PEREGRINE WATCH!

    If you're planning on doing some birding this weekend, keep your eyes peeled for a Peregrine Falcon with a satellite telemetry unite on its back.

   Click "Continue reading..." below for more information,

WHITE IBIS: First photo

   Secaucus birder Ray Duffy got the first shot of the immature white ibis this morning -- way across a tidal impoundment at Harrier Meadow. Naturally, a gull tried to steal the show by surfing on a tire.