Great Britain apparently has the same rat poison as most of the United States - the poisons are also killing raptors...

... and rare ones at that.

https://onthewight.com/dorset-police-criticised-for-closing-investigation-into-death-of-poisoned-white-tailed-eagle/

Oystercatchers are always crowd-pleasers along the Jersey Shore. Photo: Jim Wright

My column in The Record and other USA Today newspapers today is about more birds that got New Jersey birders interested in birding.

Here it is:

What critter made these marks on this tree along the Ramapo River in Mahwah?

The Surprising NJ Connection
to Birding in North Dakota, by Juanita Hummel

North Dakota may well be the most under-rated birding destination in North America. While the first image that comes to mind is big skies and grasslands dotted with colorful wildflowers, the diverse habitat types in ND not only host prairie grassland birds but also provide prime breeding territory for many species of waterfowl due to the fresh-water-filled "potholes" left behind after the last Ice Age.

The long-legged Marbled Godwits that we strain to see through scopes in the winter at the Jersey shore can be seen with the naked eye strutting along roadways. Upland Sandpipers, rare and critically endangered in NJ due to habitat loss, thrive there, posing on fence posts for easy photos. This program is a brief introduction to the often-overlooked birds of North Dakota.

Juanita Hummel was born in Canada but has made her home on the Sourland Mountain in NJ for 37 years.  A retired lab scientist turned citizen scientist, she is a long-time birder and advocate for land conservation for plants and wildlife, currently serving as board president of the Washington Crossing Audubon Society.

Juanita is a certified PA Master Naturalist and a trained volunteer naturalist at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in PA.  She participates in citizen science and does bird and nature walks and talks for WCAS, NJ Audubon and other conservation organizations, and enjoys eco-traveling to see birds and plants in their native habitats around the world.  

Fyke zoom presentations are free and open to the public. We ask that you register in advance by clicking the link below. You will receive an email with your own unique link to join the meeting.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zSdxIbadS2iI6VubIL4OMw

Since 2015 Fyke's monthly speaker costs have been funded by a generous grant from the Winifred M. and George P. Pitkin Foundation.

Alhaji Samura shared these images he took at the Celery Farm last week.

(Thanks, Alhaji!)