Visited Skeetkill Creek Marsh (above) in Ridgefield and Losen Slote Park (below) in Little Ferry late last week, both thick with snow. Mehrhof Pond was frozen as well.
All three locales were almost devoid of bird life, and without leaves on the trees, civilization seemed much closer (and louder, despite the blanket of snow).
At the suggestion of Karen Riede of Ridgefield, we checked in on the Monk Parakeets of Ridgefield last week, and it seems they are in the midst of a housing crunch.
The bridge over the train tracks by Railroad Avenue (where else?) is undergoing repairs, and workers had to remove the (eggless) nests.
Thanks to Karen, the workers did put up two nesting platforms for the parakeets but they were not yet interested in moving in.
In fact the roughly two dozen parakeets were just hanging around the vicinity, apparently waiting for (and hoping for) the workers to finish. When that will be is unclear. (Stay tuned!)
Tomorrow: Laurel Hill Raven Update
This great little marsh in Ridgefield appears to have survived last month's tough weather and looks ready to explode with wildlife.We saw few birds, but that is rapidly changing.
Wednesday: Monk Parakeet Update
This spider was found in the Girls Scout Butterfly Garden in the Ridgefield Community Garden earlier this month, with bats, flying squirrels, and a doe and 2 fawns. Photo by Bruce Riede. Thanks, Bruce!
This shot was taken one sunny morning last week, with some great Hibiscus flowers in bloom. Not much bird activity -- saw a couple of Peeps flying.
A bit of news regarding the Monk Parakeets of Ridgefield.
Bill Boyle of the New Jersey Bird Records Committee reports:
"At the Spring 2008 meeting [last month], the committee voted to add Monk Parakeet to the New Jersey State List. The population in Bergen County, which has been present for many years, has been growing and spreading and is unlikely to be extirpated by natural causes."
Click "Continue reading..." for the rest of his comments.
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.
The Meadowlands Conservation Trust is looking for help with its annual clean-up of
this important tidal marsh -- planned for Thursday, March 26, from noon to 3 p.m. Raindate is Thursday, April 2, noon – 3 p.m.
The Skeetkill Creek Marsh in Ridgefield, photographed last week above in its drab winter attire, is a 16-acre restored wetlands area that is one of the Meadowlands unsung vest-pocket parks.
For an earlier blog post on the marsh -- and a look at how beautiful it is in summer -- click here. For general info on the Skeetkill Marsh, click here.
If you can help clean up this treasure, wear work clothes, boots and gloves; trash bags and other equipment will be provided.
Volunteers should gather at the kiosk near the park entrance on Pleasantview Terrace, Ridgefield.
Please RSVP call Laura Machuca at 201-460-2802 or e-mail her at laura.machuca@njmeadowlands.gov
The wild Monk Parakeets of Ridgefield look to be doing well.
We stopped by to check in on them last week and found more than two dozen
sunning themselves in nearby trees. It seemed a bit odd to see a parakeet on a tree with dead leaves, but that is the way it is in this region.
Karen Riede of the town's Environmental Committee says the Monk Parakeet population is around 30-- as it was last year about this time -- and that the birds are perfectly acclimated.
"They all grew up right here, and this is the only home or environment they know," she says.
The birds have been in Ridgefield, Edgewater, Fort Lee and other spots for so long that there is a strong likelihood that this beautiful, colorful (if a tad loud) bird will be to the state list.
A prevous post on the parakeets is here.
Ridgefield, in the northern part of the Meadowlands District, has several nifty attractions, from the restored wetlands of the Skeetkill Creek Marsh to the Monk Parakeets that nest under the highway bridge over the train tracks on Railroad Avenue.
But there's also the Ridgefield Nature Center, a beautiful wooded natural area comprising 5.4 acres off Shaler Boulevard by Ray Avenue.
The property was the source of the spring for the Great Bear Spring Water Co. from 1920 to 1975, at which point the land was sold to the Borough of Ridgefield.
Since then, the borough has been restoring the site, planting well-labeled native trees and plants and curtailing the invasive species. Those are labeled, too -- so you'll know what to look out for in your own backyard and elsewhere.
Click "Continue reading..." immediately below for more information on the Ridgefield Nature Center.
We'd like to think that Pleasantview Terrace in Ridgefield was named for the view of Skeetkill Creek Marsh, a nice natural oasis amid a commercial district. This 16-acre marsh was once all phragmites, and heavily littered. 
The Meadowlands Commission overhauled the site a decade ago, creating tidal channels, open water, and islands of vegetation.
It is now owned by the Meadowlands Conservation Trust.
Local volunteers, with the help of a nearby Ridgefield business that has adopted the site, keep the site clean. The Riverkeeper has done clean-ups here as well.
Peeps and other shorebirds love Skeetkill Creek Marsh at low tide, and egrets and great blue herons fly in to feed as the tide rises.
Click "Continue reading" for more images and information.
A blog about the nature of the Meadowlands, in northern New Jersey.
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