The Meadowlands Blog

Christmas Bird Count (Our List)

    The Lower Hudson Bird Count went off yesterday despite the snow. I was with NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse, the BCAS' Don Torino, and birder/photographer Kevin Watson.

   We looked for the shrike and visited Harrier Meadow, two balers, two landfills, a Hackensack River marina and a Hackensack River marsh.

   Highlights included a Barn Owl, lots of Snow Buntings, a Meadowlark, a Rough-legged Hawk, and a lot of Horned Larks.

  No, we did not get the Northern Shrike yesterday, but it was not for a lack of trying.

   Click Continue reading for more pics (including a Cooper's Hawk and Dark-eyed Junco) and the full list.

Christmas Bird Count: Key facts and dates

    If you are looking to do the Christmas Bird Count this year, there is now one central listing of the dates and locations for each circle in New Jersey. Here's the link.

   For a link to the National Audubon site, which has more about the Christmas Count's history and procedures, results of past counts, etc., click here.

Christmas Bird Count 2009

 

    Mike Britt reports:

     "The Lower Hudson Christmas Bird Count [which includes the Meadowlands] will be held on Sunday, Dec. 20.

   "For those that have never participated before and would like to...please consider that this is a 'great escape' from the masses doing their last minute  Christmas shopping. 

  Click Button below for info about count in general.

Click "Continue reading...." for local details.

  Click here for posts from the 2008 local count.

LOCAL CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Another blog's perspective

   

John Beetham has a solid New Jersey birding blog with an unlikely name -- "A D.C. Birding Blog."   

   Click here for John's report. It offers some great perspective on Sunday's Lower Hudson count -- which included the Meadowlands.

  Click the button above for more information on the Christmas Bird Count nationwide.
 

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Meadowlands Highlights

  

Our Meadowlands team was part of the Lower Hudson CBC Circle, covering a 15-mile radius.
    Team Leader Mike Britt has posted a highlights list, including many of the birds that our team of three saw on our 11 hours plus of birding Meadowlands Commission sites in North Arlington, Lyndhurst and Carlstadt. The circle saw counted 100 species and more than 13,000 birds overall.

     (Above: Orange-crowned Warbler; at right, a Horned Lark.)

    Click "Continue reading..." below for the highlights list and a photo of a pheasant and an artsy shot of a Bald Eagle.

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT: Meadowlands

 
   The Meadowlands Commission's team of three birded on Sunday from 6 a.m. until after 5 p.m. at commission locales and came up with 62 species, including a Bald Eagle, a Rough-Legged Hawk, three species of owls, Orange-crowned Warblers and Horned Larks.  

More later this week.

    Click the button at right for more information on the count nationwide.

HELP WANTED: CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

   Birder Michael Britt is organizing this year's CBC in the Meadowlands. The day is Sunday, Dec. 14, from pre-dawn to dusk, and he is looking for a few dedicated and hearty volunteers to help.
    Expert birders and beginners alike can participate, but be advised this is no walk in the park - the weather can be nasty, and there's a lot of ground to cover.

    Towns to be covered are , North Arlington, Kearny, Lyndhurst, East Rutherford, Carlstadt, Secaucus, North Bergen, etc. -- "basically everything but Mehrhof Pond, Teterboro, and other areas at the extreme northern end of the district," Mike says.

   Click the "I Count" button above for more information on the CBC in general.

   Click "Continue reading..." immediately below for details on the Meadowlands CBC.