Ducks and drakes celebrate spring

I don't know about the bees, but the birds seem to think spring is here – at least the ducks are in an amorous mood. Since my discovery of Coles Brook, I've taken to doing my laundry in River Edge, around a corner from the brook's meander towards Hackensack. While the laundry is drying, I …

Found: Coles Brook

Coles Brook is a small creek that empties into the Hackensack River at New Bridge Landing, once the site of a tide-powered mill and a wharf that serviced boats transporting goods up and down the river. One day I was watching Canada geese noodle around the mouth of the brook, and I wondered where the …

Waterfowl: chinstraps, dabbling, and more

One of my favorite activities in fall and winter, when much of nature has gone into hiding, is watching waterfowl, which don’t seem to have a big problem with cold water. Feeding wild ducks and geese is frowned upon, but along the shores of public lakes, where visitors entertain their children with scatterings of stale …