Sorry, but a Red-bellied shot beats a Hairy any day, with or without icicles...

A reminder: The 2020 Celery Farm calendars are on sale at the Lee Memorial Library in Allendale and Wild Birds Unlimited in Paramus. And they feature beautiful color images taken you-know-where.

Perfect holiday gifts!

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 calendars. (Thanks, Carol Flanagan, who  designed the calendars!)

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 Celery Farm trails and bridges are a bit slippery in spots, but the scenery -- glazed in ice -- is spectacular.

Had one at lunchtime today at Barking Dog Corner -- hadn't seen one in a while and thought I'd mention in case anyone needs it for a month or year list...

I usually forget to go birding at Allendale's Crestwood Lake, though I have seen some great birds there over the years -- especially Wilson's Snipes. A recent email from Alice Leurck served as a wakeup call.

Why isn't Crestwood Lake listed an eBird hotspot, she wondered?

The reason, I figured out, is that perhaps no one had nominated it.

After hearing about all the great birds Alice saw there before Thanksgiving --including Eastern Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwings, I nominated this place myself. I'll let you know if I get any results.

eBird says that you, too, can suggest Crestwood Lake as a hotspot on its website from the Submit page by using “Find it on a Map” and clicking the suggestion box. You can also suggest prior personal locations going to Manage My Locations under My eBird and using the dropdown menu at the top right.

In the meantime, enjoy some Alice pix from Crestwood Lake from last month.