Saturday, October 24: DeKorte Park

Green-winged teal. Photo by Beni Fishbein.

In honor of Birdability Week 

Montclair Bird Club Sits at DeKorte Park

10:30 am to 12 noon

This trip cancels if it rains. 

Birdability is an organization devoted to making birding more accessible and inclusive to birders of all abilities, regardless of disability or other health concerns. During the third week of October, they sponsor Birdability Week; this year's theme is "Bird Where You Are." (For more information about Birdability, see their website at birdability.org.)

With that in mind, we are hosting the first MBC Sits event at DeKorte Park. We will meet at the parking lot by the Meadowlands Environmental Center, then sit by the Shorebird Pool West and watch for the birds to come to us. If participants are amenable, we may move to the back parking lot to observe the bird feeder and pools from there. Bring a chair, binoculars and a scope if you have one, something to drink, and a snack. Dress for the weather. There is often an accessible porta-san at this location. 

Link to travel directions: njsea.com/directions/

Travel directions from Montclair area: Take Route 3 east to Polito Avenue/Orient Way exit. Continue straight onto Polito Avenue.  At the stop sign, turn left onto Valley Brook Avenue.  Follow Valley Brook to the end (approximately 1 ½ miles).  Cross the railroad tracks and enter the park on your left.  Bear right into the parking lot at the little guard house.   

Wednesday, October 14, 2026: Merlin and audio recordings of birds: How Sound ID works and how you can help to improve it

This talk will cover how the Merlin team at Cornell makes Sound ID, what sorts of mistakes Merlin can make and why, the best ways to use Merlin, and how birders can make and contribute their audio recordings to help Merlin improve over time.

Speaker Bio:

Blaine Carnes is the Merlin Sound ID US and Canada project coordinator at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. In addition to his work on Merlin Sound ID, he runs a long-term bird banding project in Texas with study sites at the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center and Trinity River Audubon Center, and has helped to run a monitoring program with autonomous recording units at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. He handles eBird review for the area around Dallas, Texas, and is secretary of the Texas Bird Records Committee His past field experience includes ornithology projects through North America and the Neotropics.

Wednesday, November 11: The First Time: Birding New South Wales in Spring by Rick Wright

The First Time: Birding New South Wales in Spring by Rick Wright.

In person at the Union Congregation Church in Upper Montclair.

Birding can take us to the ends of the earth, or at least to Montclair’s near-antipode on the vast continent of Australia. From kangaroos to currawongs, even the briefest of visits to the tiniest bit of the east coast is full of natural wonders. Join Rick Wright for an introduction to birding “down under,” illustrated with photos by his companions on this inaugural trip, Ric Cohn and Sandy Sorkin.

A member of the Montclair Bird Club executive board and a widely published writer, Rick Wright leads Birds and Art tours for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, ventbird.com.