Trails were a little muddy after Friday night's rain and non-Mallard ducks were scarce, but did see a Great Black-backed Gull and a couple other decent birds on a walk organized by L.L. Bean. Just good to be outside and in the Celery Farm. Plus a very engaged young birder!

Full list follows.

On Wednesday, I asked folks to ID this seedy plant.

Congrats to Betsy Thomas, who not only answered correctly on this blog's Facebook Page but also prounounced it correctly: "Chi, chi, chi, chia."

She wins a free ticket to hear the legendary Kevin Watson speak about Peru at next Friday's Fyke meeting.

(Note: That is the chia pot, not Kevin, pictured above.)

Coming Tuesday: A sneak preview of survey maps of the "core area" of the Celery Farm, donated recently to the Fyke Nature Association by Peter McBride.

Just saw this little guy (shown here for ID purposes on a tree in my backyard (1:25 p.m.).

It flew toward the spillway bridge at the Celery Farm, and could still be around.

The Record's Jim O'Neill has a story in today's editions about the Bald Eagle's remarkable comeback in New Jersey. The link is here.

To read how New Jersey helped bring about that recovery -- the state was down to one nesting pair four decades ago -- read my article in the current issue of New Jersey Monthly. It is not available online yet but I will let you know when it is.

The photo above is the Ridgefield Park's nesting pair, Al and Alice.