HARRIER MEADOW, North Arlington Directions take you to the parking area on Disposal Road, accessible from Schuyler Avenue in North Arlington and Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst (by DeKorte Park).
RIVER BARGE PARK & MARINA, Carlstadt Directions take you to Outwater Lane in Carlstadt. Follow Outwater Lane to end for the River Barge Park & Marina.
SCHMIDT'S WOODS, Secaucus Entrance to Schmidt's Woods is roughly 100 yards to the west on Millridge Road.
SKEETKILL CREEK MARSH, Ridgefield After turning onto Pleasant View Terrace West, go about 100 yards, and marsh entrance will be on your left.
MONK PARAKEETS, Ridgefield When you reach Railroad Avenue, head south under Hendricks Causeway Bridge. Park car near the bridge and listen; Monk Parakeets live in nests on underside of the bridge.
KEARNY FRESH-WATER MARSH, Kearny Camman Drive is the road the loops around Gunnell Oval; the marsh is to the east of the easternmost corner of the drive. You can launch kayaks and canoes at this location.
One of the nifty aspects of a walk with a larger group is that there are so many sets of eyes. Highlights of the Mill Creek guided walk yesterday included a slow-moving Garter Snake out sunning itself. (Thanks, Lillian, for pointing it out!)
Because some folks can't stand photos of snakes we are posting this on the jump.
We know that some people hate seeing photos of snakes, so you'll have to click the "Continue reading..." line below to see some really nifty photos that Laura Machuca of the Meadowlands Conservation Trust took of a coil of Garter Snakes at Skeetkill Creek Marsh Park in Ridgefield last Thursday. (Thanks, Laura!) The MCT was doing some marsh maintenance when Laura saw the snakes, thought to be a bunch of males just coming out of hibernation and hanging out in hopes of finding a female.
We rescued another turtle on Disposal Road last week. We are thinking this guy is a Slider -- but please e-mail us if you think we've got it wrong. This guy was roughly 10 inches long.
Click here for posts on other Meadowlands reptiles and amphibians.
A colleague phoned us to say that a turtle was crossing Disposal Road by the Amvets Carillon in North Arlington. She was afraid it would get hit by a car.
We found this guy about a third of the way across Disposal. We moved him out of harm's way, closer to the nearest tidal impoundment, but not before taking a few photos for posterity.
These guys are usually seen sliding into the water, 50 feet away. Click "Continue reading..." to see more photos.
We saw this chap catching some rays in the MRI wetlands in Carlstadt while we were putting up Tree Swallow boxes earlier this week.
Its shell was still dirty from a winter's nap in the mud. It was a little more sluggish than usual, so we were able to get a photo or two. The turtle was not easy to ID, covered with mud, but we've narrowed it to Diamondback Terrapin or Snapping Turtle.Any thoughts? More on Diamondback Terrapins here. Other posts on Meadowlands reptiles and amphibians here.
We know that some people get freaked out by snakes, or even photos of snakes, so we are posting some nifty close-ups of this snake -- a northern brown snake, aka a Dekay's snake, thanks to Ray Duffy's ID) on the "jump" of this post.
If you do look on the jump, be ready for a surprise ending.
Click "Continue
reading..." immediately below to see the snake shots.
E-mail Jim Wright if you
prefer that snake shots not appear on "the front page" of the blog.
We did see three marbled godwits (thanks to birder Fred Weber), a semi-palmated plover, two peregrine falcons, an osprey, and a diamondback terrapin (below) -- among other sightings on two trips to Harrier Meadow today. The Meadow will be open to the public on a limited basis during the Meadowlands Festival of Birding, and we are in the process of setting up some guided tours of the site. Click here for more on Harrier Meadow and birding festival.
Two great places for nature walks are at the north end of the Meadowlands District in Little Ferry -- the BCUA Nature Preserve and Losen Slote Creek Park. The nature preserve is part of an old brick-making site that provided the bricks for major cities along the East Coast. After the brick factory went out of business a long time ago, the land reverted to its natural state, with a clay pit becoming a large pond -- Mehrhof Pond. It's a beautiful place, and known amongst birders for the waterfowl it attracts -- notably ruddy ducks and other waterfowl by the hundreds in November. The one caveat is that because the nature preserve is located on Bergen County Utilities Authority property, it is inaccessible without advance permission. You need to go as part of an organized group. You need advance permission to gain admittance. You need to sign an insurance waiver. And it's not open on weekends or holidays. But the preserve is worth the effort. Because it is not open to the public -- for safety, security and insurance reasons -- it is well-kept and largely undisturbed. On a recent trip I saw quite a few amazing sights, including a gorgeous Eastern box turtle and a field full of cedar waxwings.
Click "Continue reading" for more information and a look at more images from the BCUA preserve.
One of the great things about walking in the Meadowlands is you never know who you'll run into. I encountered this guy on the first day of summer.
He saw me before I saw him, and froze. That appears to be a major terrapin defense mechanism: Act like part of the scenery until you decide it's time for Plan B.
In the photo above, it's time for Plan B: Make a run for it.
For a previous post on diamondback terrapins, including a short video, click here.
This is a great time of year to keep an eye out for diamondback terrapins and other turtles.
They have been laying eggs for a week or two now, and sunning themselves on the banks of the Hackensack River and nearby marshes at low tide.
They also go up on land to lay their eggs -- that's how the first image in this 31-second video was captured.
Diamondback terrapins are amazing reptiles -- they are the only species that has adapted to living in brackish waters. They are a threatened species in New Jersey.
If you want to see one, you have to be quiet --
they are typically very skittish. In the video, you can see the
terrapins scatter as the camera boat quietly and slowly approaches.