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August 2007

More Hackensack River

Egrets_snowy

  Today The Record has the second part of my story on the Hackensack River, featuring a two-page pullout of some of the attractions and distractions along the river.

   Here's a link to the story and slide shows, but this is an instance where the online version can't match the newspaper itself. You can't put a two-page pullout online. :-)

http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxODcwNTUmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky

   The photo above is of snowy egrets. Below are a photo of a peregrine falcon on the Route 3 bridge, and a photo of a marsh mallow, the unofficial flower of the Hackensack River.

   I took the mallow photo when I was kayaking on Lake Tappan, but I saw them on the other two reservoirs and in the Meadowlands as well.

Peregrine

Mallow


The Hackensack River revival

Sunset2   

 

   The Record ran my big Hackensack River story today on the front page.

   Dcnh I have a link to it below, but I have to say that it's a lot better in print, in the newspaper, with all the photography by The Record's Beth Balbierz and a great two-page layout inside the paper.

   The aerial photography provides views of this amazing river that few have seen.

http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1MSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzE4Njc0NCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI=


Coming Sunday and Monday

   If all goes as planned, The Record will soon publish two major stories I did on the Hackensack River over the summer.

   On Sunday, I write about the river's recovery. On Monday, there's two-page pullout on the hidden Hackensack.

   Beth Balbierz of The Record took most of the photos, which are superb.

   There'll also be an on-line presence.

   I will post links to the stories and on-line material as they become available.

   I give The Record all the credit in the world for letting me do this project -- and putting such manpower into it.

   I also appreciate The Record's commitment to environmental coverage, which includes supporting this blog.


Egret in flight

Egret1

      

    From the Warden's Watch in the past week, I've gotten some nice close views of egrets and great blue herons flying.

  The great blues are awesome, flapping their immense wings slowly. The egrets seem more athletic, with faster wing flaps.

   I almost think of egrets as single-skull rowers, with their precise wing flaps resembling oar strokes in a sea of sky.

   It's hard to say which giant bird is more beautiful. My choice is the one I happen to be watching at the time.

   I hope that didn't sound like a politician!

Egret2

Egret3

Egret4


Oops, they did it again

No_squirks_0823

 

 

   I have been swamped at work, and had not checked in on the squirrel family in well over a day.

    When I got home last night, I activated the video monitor and saw the above scene.

   At first I thought the babies might be well-hidden, but usually there's some thrashing after while.

   Nothing had changed this morning.

   Apparently Mrs. Squirrel likes to move the babies. She moved them 19 days ago, then brought them back a week later.

   This may be the last we see of the four babies in the nesting box -- or not. These squirrels are impossible to predict.

   What I found strange is that the mom must have gone back after moving the babies and covered the indentation where the four babies nestled -- as if she were covering their tracks.

    In a week, I'll put out that "room for rent" sign and advertisement again.

http://njmg.typepad.com/owl/2007/08/1-rm-cf-view.html