The Celery Farm & Beyond

'Duck Enough' For the Waterfowl Festival

   A few years ago, Jerry Barrack, Doug Goodell and I did a children's book called "Duck Enough To Fly," based on an amazing sight that Jerry and I saw (and Jerry photographed)  one May morning at the Celery Farm.

   To promote the book, we asked a gifted wood-carver from Virginia named Lisa Byrd to carve us a Wood Duck family to use as a "show and tell" when we read the book at talks.

   Now Lisa has taken the whole "Duck Enough To Fly" motif a step further and carved a scene inspired by "Duck Enough."

   (Note jumping duckling in photo at left.)

   She writes that she has been invited to the Easton Waterfowl Festival for the first time this year, and ... "I wanted to make something for an eye-catcher, and I got my inspiration from your book...

  "It's a Wood Duck box complete with family. It stands about 5 1/2 feet tall...

 "Notice the flying/falling duckling? And also the fake duck poop! (Does it look familiar? (o:) Wanted it to be realistic."

   Thanks, Lisa. Lisa's Web site is here. Link to the Waterfowl Festival is here.

   Cover of "Duck Enough to Fly"  is below.

Wow! Wigeons!

 

We had a pair of primo American Wigeons at the CF on Sunday (and they were incredibly close to the Warden's Watch).

   I had to walk all the way back to my house to get my camera, but it was worth it.

  Male is above. Female is below. More on American Wigeons here.

The Twitter Plague

  I am trying to de-Twitter this blog to eliminate the annoying pop-ups that seem to be affecting many bloggers with Twitter accounts... Apparently it is more difficult than I thought. ;- )

   Thank you for your patience.

Amazing Hummingbird Video

  This is a little beyond the Celery Farm, but a pretty amazing video of a hummingbird courtship dispaly from the BBC. Link is here.

Monday Morning Mystery 110909

    Sally Teschon offers this Monday Morning Mystery -- or Monday Morning Rorschach Test.

    What do you see?  

Nice Changing-Seasons Post by Diane Brown

     Fellow Blogger and Fyker Diane Brown has a nice post on our fleeting autumn, with pix. Post is here.

Ducks Deux!

  

    We had a great turnout for Ducks at Dusk II at the Celery Farm late yesterday afternoon. More than two dozen m, w and c saw all kinds of great birds, from coots cooting around to a Coop cooping around.

   We also had a nearby Great Blue Heron munching on sushi appetizers, a Great Egret in the distance and an adult Redtail perched near the dead zone.

   Ducks? We had a few -- great Wood Ducks, Black Ducks, two male N. Shovelers, Gadwalls, several Green-winged Teal and many Mallards -- plus a couple of species I no doubt forgot.

   Marsh Warden Stiles Thomas was also there, selling those awesome 2010 Celery Farm calendars. If you haven't gotten one yet, hello?  E-mail me.

    Thanks go out to Dep. Warden Mike Limatola and fellow Fyker Hughie Carola (above, lower right) for leading the extravaganza.

 

Screech Owl Update

   

   It's getting to be the time of year when people in these parts start seeing Screech Owls poking their heads out of nesting boxes and tree cavities, but no sign of Ace yet.

   I got my hopes mildly yesterday when I saw several dickie birds looking into the Ace residence, but there was no owl ...  

   After more than three years of stellar service, my owlcam died. I am working on a replacement now  -- once you've had the luxury of being able to check the inside of the box, this cameralessness is torture.

  The box has been cleaned out, with a new carpeting of wood shavings. I may have to start advertising again. The housing market for Screech Owls must still be a tad slow.

Hiking Column on the Celery Farm

   If you see a lot of walkers in the Celery Farm this weekend, here's why: The Record's hiking columnist did a piece on the CF on Thursday. The link to the column is here.

   The writer says that walk around is 1.3 miles. I had always thought it was just about a mil, but I guess if you include the Wardens' Watch, etc...

   Some of the history in the column is shaky at best, but it's a otherwise a nice column.

   (Though I would have warned people -- especially families with small children -- about the poison ivy.)

Ducks at Dusk: Part Deux

     Tomorrow afternoon, there's another Ducks at Dusk at the Warden's Watch.

   Asst. Marsh Warden Mike Limatola and Fyke Land Trust Director Hugh Carola will meet duck-watchers at the Franklin Turnpike entrance at 4 p.m. for a short walk to the Warden’s Watch platform to witness the amazing spectacle of hundreds of waterfowl coming to roost of the calm waters of Lake Appert.

    There’s no registration and the event is free, but flashlights are required for the walk back.  

American Coot cooting around

    As Rob Fanning has pointed out, an American Coot has been "cooting around" near the Warden's Watch. He seems pretty much oblivious to humans. I saw him there this morning.

    Great Egret still out there, with lots of ducks -- Ruddy, Shovelers, Gadwalls and more.

Rob Fanning Report: 110309

Rob Fanning sez:

   Saw my first COOT at for the CF this year--close in to the Warden's Watch--Cooting around...2 female-type PURPLE FINCHES were at NN Culvert--one was feeding on the ground...A perched Red-tail was across from a "chucking" Squirrel--outcome unknown...GREAT EGRET is the latest record I'm aware of for the CF...

   Click "Continue reading..." for Rob's full report.

Monday Morning Mystery 110209

    Seymour Drakes found this guy in the bathtub. At least it was clean -- or all washed up.

   But who is it?

   Please do not tell Seymour's wife he posted this on the blog.

Waxwing Morning

  Great morning walk around the Celery Farm today, with plenty of Cedar Waxwings putting on a show, a Coot, a Ruddy, "a wall of Gads" (as Rob Fanning says), Shovelers, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret and more.

 

Lights, Camera, Celery Farm!

   If you drove past the Celery Farm Friday evening and and wondered what was with all the bright lights in the parking lot, this post is for you. 

    Columbia University students were filming a short movie, called "Homecoming Queen."

   The parking lot was no worse for wear when they left. 

   We saw the same crew filming at Northern Highlands High School this morning.

Fanning Report 103009: "A Wall of Gad"

Rob sez:

Highlights were my first Ruddy Duck (female) at the CF this year and a consistently calling Brown Creeper seen near the entrance. A Wall of Gad of at least 60 individuals are dabbling around the lake.
 Checked LeConte's Lane on this the 4th anniversary of it's CF visit, but no luck--I guess one LeConte's in Bergen Co. per fall is the limit... [Seymour Drake notes: One was seen at Overpeck this week.]
   Click "Continued reading ..." for Rob's full report.

Today's Record Column: Juncos, White-throats

 

   Today's "The Bird Watcher" column is on two backyard harbingers of winter -- the Dark-Eyed Junco and the White-Throated Sparrow.

  You can read my column here.

 

Great Book: '101 Birds of Belize'

    If you are planning to go Central America -- or just love learning about birds -- I highly recommend this book by noted Belize naturalist (and good friend) Carolyn Miller.

    The book, published by the Belize Audubon Society, is hard to get in the states, by I am encouraging Buteo Books to stock the book. The book sells for $15, and it is a bargain. The descriptions of the birds ring true, and the illustrations are top-notch.

    I am trying to order multiple copies of the book to save mailing costs. If you are interested, e-mail me.  

    Here's a link for more information about this invaluable book.

   

   

Bat Woes Persist

    I was going to post the following photo for Halloween, but figured it shouldn't wait, in light of the story in The Record today about Bergen's bat population dropping by 58 percent since last year.

   I have been counting bats for the state's annual bat count for several years, and this was the first year where I counted no bats, though I spent several hours total at three suspected roosts.

   I did see bats flying around at two locales, in Allendale and Upper Saddle River, but did not locate their roost.

   If you know of a roost in Bergen County, please let me know and I will try to do a bat count there next spring.

   Click to here to read the article by The Record's Environmental Writer Jim O'Neill.

   Click here for my previous posts on bats.

Talk on Fell House's John Fell

  Peter Fenzel will present "Rediscovering John Fell" at the Hermitage History Roundtable at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, at The Hermitage, 335 North Franklin Turnpike, in Ho-Ho-Kus.   

   John Fell, whose Revolutionary War home still stands in Allendale across Franklin Turnpike from the Celery Farm, ranked among the most respected of our Founding Fathers while he lived.

    Within a generation of his death, however, his name, his sacrifices, his character, and his contributions to the creation of the American Republic all were lost to the mists of time.

    Peter Fenzel of the Concerned Citizens of Allendale will discuss the life and times of John Fell at this History Roundtable. 

 The Concerned Citizens of Allendale, Inc., are working to save the house and property.