What's the story behind this little plaque on the Warden's Watch? Can anyone supply the details?

A wedding proposal, no doubt, but would be nice to learn the back story.

Walked to the summit with Matt Sedita and a great bunch of hikers with Take a Hike NJ as part of The Nature Conservancy's High Mountain Challenge.

Piece of cake!

Congrats to Take a Hike NJ -- just passed 1,000 members!

A reminder: The 2020 Celery Farm calendars are here, featuring beautiful color images taken you-know-where.

Yes, that's one of Allendale's famous Red-shouldered Hawks on the cover. (Photo by Darlene Lembo.)

As always, the calendar is packed with holidays and locally essential dates.

As a special bonus, calendar creator Carol Flanagan has added another day to the calendar, Feb. 29! I can't guarantee that all other 2020 calendars have this feature, so best buy one of Fyke's. (Thanks, Carol!)

The calendars sell for $15 (U.S.) and are available at Wild Birds Unlimited on Route 17 South in Paramus and the Lee Memorial Library on Crescent Avenue in Allendale. (Thank you, Lee Memorial Library and Wild Birds Unlimited!)

The calendars will also be available at Fyke's monthly meetings (the next one is Friday, Oct. 25; not to be missed).

A first-ever sighting of a Cassin's Kingbird In New Jersey occurred Sunday in Cape May.

Turns out that there was a strong connection between John Cassin, for whom the bird was named, and the real James Bond.

You can read more about Cassin, the kingbird and James Bond on my new blog here.

The recent rains have returned Lake Appert water levels to normal and flushed most of what I call kelp toward the Spillway. In the process of removing that.

High winds knocked down a tree and branches but nothing major. Still very windy and overcast yesterday afternoon, hopefully better today.

And the materials for the deer exclosure at the north end of the preserve have arrived. (Pix below.)

On Monday I asked, "What's 'wrong'  with this picture?"

A couple of Peregrine-eyed readers, Tom Pollard and Michael Pollock, were quick to respond and combined to provide the right answer.

The photo -- taken Sunday at State Line Hawk Watch in Alpine, is of one of the resident Peregrne Falcins with freshly caught-in-mid-air prey in its talons.

On Tuesday, I asked folks if they could I.D. the prey by it feet...

The answer to that question is: Blue Jay. (A big shout-out to Diane Louie for giving the right answer!)

Below are the photos to prove it. Plenty of birders and photographers at the hawk watch can verify this.

But here's the kicker. This is just one small chapter in a much larger story.

Stay tuned for an upcoming Bird Watcher column of mine the explores that story.)

(Was I right? Was this the best Monday Morning Mystery ever?)

Earlier this month, while visiting Lower Manhattan to see the World Trade Center Memorial and Trinity Church, I visited the church's cemetery and got some pleasant surprises -- beginning with a Common Yellowthroat.

It turned out that the cemetery is a neat little vestpocket birding spot that has attracted its share of rarities in recent years, including a Yellow-breasted Chat, above.

The pic didn't make the column in the newspaper, but wanted to include it here -- so beautiful.

(Photograph by Roman T. Brewka. Thanks, Roman!)

You can download the column here:

Download Jim Wright Bird Watcher 101719 BL-04 TheRecordBergenEdition_20191017_BL04_0

I just came across a webpage about Founding Father John Fell on the genealogical website geni.com. 

My favorite line about Fell on the webpage:  "The British feared him and our Founding Fathers adored him."

You can read the website's short biography of John Fell here.

You can read more about Fell on the Crossroads of the Amercan Revolution website here.

You can read Fell's secret diary (kept while the British imprisoned him in the notorious Provost Jail here (just do a search for "Fell").

The historic John Fell House's home page is here.

I am posting this as a "Happy Birthday" wish to my wife, Patty Finn, who helped save John Fell's  house in Allendale nearly a decade ago.

Yesterday's Monday Morning Mystery  generated a terrific response, and can't wait to reveal the answer.

The photo is just one small part of a larger story that I am writing a column about.

In the meantime, keep those comments coming.

A couple of commenters think that the raptor in the photo has something in its talons. It is, in fact, a Peregrine.

If so, can you identify the prey?

I will post the answer (with photographic evidence) on Friday. Can't wait!