Patty looked out our picture window on Tuesday, only to see one of the local Red-shouldered Hawks. It hung around long enough for me to take a photo. Could not see a leg band, but not a bad-looking hawk ...
Terrific nature photographer Kevin Watson will give a free talk and slide show on "Travels in Peru" this Friday night at 8 p.m. at Allendale Borough Hall as the feature presentation of this month's Fyke meeting.
Writes Kevin or quite possibly someone else:
"Peru is one of the birdiest countries in South America, in addition having a rich cultural history and spectacular scenery. Photographer Kevin Watson presents a program that takes us from the Pacific coast to the high Andes and the center of the Inca empire, then east to the humid cloud-forest slopes and the edges of the Amazon basin.
"Tanagers, Toucans and Hummingbirds are among the stars of the show, but we will also see the world’s most beautiful Tern, as well as Penguins and other surprises."
Not to be missed.
Find out more about the High Mountain Park Preserve, one of the great spots to hike and enjoy nature in North Jersey's backyard. The preserve, located in nearby Passaic County, offers great views to the east as well as 11.5 miles of hiking trails -- with a few birds to enjoy along the way.
Jim Wright, birding columnist for The Record and author of a new e-book about Duke Farms' Bald Eagles, will talk about this 1,260-acre patch of forest in a free talk for the Bergen County Audubon Society on Jan. 20.
The 40-minute talk will include recent nature shots, aerial photography and archival images. (The photo above was taken for The Nature Conservancy last October with the help of LightHawk.)
Jim is the author of four photography-driven books about cherished natural areas, from Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania to New Jersey's Meadowlands. He has been photographing the preserve for the past five years.
The talk, open to the public, begins right after the 7:30 p.m. business meeting at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy, 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck.
E-mail Jim at [email protected] for more information.
Peter McBride, a friend of the Celery Farm and part of the McBride family that once owned the Celery Farm), passed along three incredible survey maps of "the core" of the Celery Farm back when it was a working farm.
Fyke plans to preserve the maps and protect them, then share them with Fyke members.
I took a few quick photos to give you a taste. The property of Marsh Warden Emeritus Stiles Thomas' grandparents, the Feeneys, is on one of the survey maps.
(Thanks, Peter!)
The Wright-Finn security cam caught this sparrow stealing seeds from our feeder next door the Celery Farm.
We believe it is a Celery Farm resident.Local marsh wardens need to know the species in case they want to prosecute.
Which little brown job is it?