Blogs by Patricia Hilliard
King Rail in Bayonne NJ
8/21/2014 12:44:24 PM
We put Bayonne on the map in the bird watching world.
At nine in the morning on a Saturday, a dedicated group of bird watchers--all amateurs--got together and walked out Lefante Way toward New York harbor. We saw the usual types of birds--Canada Geese, Mallards, Robins, Song Sparrows. Finally, we saw an Osprey, then a Kestrel. What an improvement. Over the side of the big green bridge, we saw something or a lot of something else moving around. They were little chicken-like birds called "rails." Two of them were Clapper Rails--we could tell from their blue-brown feathers. But the other two were a bright reddish-brown. They were KING RAILS. King Rails are a rarity in New Jersey.
Among these adult birds were many small fuzzy black chicks. Rail chicks! We had never seen so many rail chicks in this area before. We snapped pictures with our cameras. Proof that we had seen chicks and KING RAIL chicks as well!
The word went out on FaceBook, the bird hotline, ebird and every other way until our discovery made it into the state newspaper. Soon bird watchers were coming from all over to see the KING RAIL IN BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY. A simple bird walk put our town on the birding world map. Now people didn't laugh when we posted our bird counts from Bayonne, a place most people thought of as too polluted to have wildlife. But things can change. Last winter we had two Snowy Owls. We were becoming a birding capital. Look out Cape May, here we come! We're building our reputation bird by bird. See our web site at www.bayonnenatureclub.org
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More Blogs by Patricia Hilliard
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• The Sad History of Nature in Our Town - Tuesday, July 16, 2024
• After 200 years, Bald Eagles appear. - Thursday, April 6, 2023
• Bird Seedy - Wednesday, March 9, 2022
• Dehumanized Humans and Wildlife - Sunday, June 20, 2021
• Discrimination in the World of Bird Watching - Friday, June 11, 2021
• Big Day Bird Count 2021 - Monday, May 10, 2021
• Plant a Pollinator Garden - Sunday, February 28, 2021
• Bird Watching during the Covid-19 Pandemic. - Friday, February 5, 2021
• Clapping for Clapper Rails - Saturday, July 11, 2020
• Beginners and Enders - Monday, November 18, 2019
• Change is the only Constant - Saturday, July 6, 2019
• Sports and Global Warming - Thursday, May 9, 2019
• A Realistic Rodent - Thursday, March 28, 2019
• Bald Eagles Again - Monday, February 18, 2019
• Birds and Words - Thursday, December 20, 2018
• Big Day Bird Walks - Saturday, October 6, 2018
• Nature Therapy--It Works! - Sunday, May 27, 2018
• 2017 A Better Year than Expected - Monday, December 11, 2017
• What the Warbler Migration has Taught Me - Monday, November 27, 2017
• Irony: How a loss of habitat occurs and why. - Tuesday, July 11, 2017
• Bald Eagles Return - Monday, May 8, 2017
• King Rail in Bayonne NJ - Thursday, August 21, 2014
• Snowy Owl Olympics in New Jersey, USA - Saturday, February 15, 2014
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