A hearty thank you to the Bergen County Audubon Society for their generous donation of 50 Tree Swallow boxes to the NJSEA for installation at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst and Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus!
The adorable species iridescent blue feathers perfectly complemented by white underparts, and acrobatic-act flights, make Tree Swallows a favorite spring migrant among visitors. As you can see above, they are also incredibly photogenic!
Tree Swallows will only nest in hallowed-out cavities. Given their dwindling habitat, yearly box donations are critical to breeding success in the Meadowlands.
Pictured are Aleshanee Mooney, Field Ecologist with the NJSEA’s Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute, and BCAS President Don Torino.
The American Eel has a fascinating life cycle, beginning thousands of miles away in the Sargasso Sea. The translucent larvae, aptly known as glass eels, traverse the Atlantic Ocean using currents. Their migration ends in estuaries and freshwater habitats along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America. As they mature, they begin to develop a gray pigment and transition towards freshwater lakes, ponds, and rivers. At this stage, they are referred to as elvers.
American eel and its juvenile forms are an indicator species, meaning its presences suggests clean water and a healthy ecosystem. Monitoring glass eels can help us better understand the water quality and ecological diversity of the Hackensack River.
On March 11th, eel mops were deployed at three locations throughout the Meadowlands for weekly assessments. With four glass eels (top right picture) and one elver (top left picture) identified, the results have positive indications regarding the health of the ecosystem. Since migration typically occurs in the late winter through the late summer months, we hope numbers will continue to rise as the season progresses.
Over the past four decades, the once threatened Osprey population has made an incredible resurgence. With this exciting increase in population came a lack of adequate nesting environments, limiting successful breeding efforts. Ospreys seek to build nests in the highest places in marshes, such as tall dead trees and utility poles, which are vulnerable to human and environmental intervention. To assist in the recovery of the Osprey population in the Meadowlands, the NJSEA has constructed numerous nesting platforms across the region.
Within the past weeks, a breeding pair of Ospreys has returned to one of the nesting platforms in the Meadowlands marshes (top picture). A newly deployed camera has allowed staff to excitedly monitor the activity and breeding success of this pair.
As demonstrated by this pair, Ospreys typically arrive on breeding grounds in late March to begin nest building. If breeding is successful, two to four eggs will be laid by mid-April to early May. The incubation period lasts roughly five weeks, followed by seven to eight weeks of raising the chicks. The summer will then be spent learning to fly and hunt in preparation of fall migration.
With luck, our breeding pair will be successful this spring and we will be able to follow the chicks along their journey. We hope to eventually find a way to live stream footage from the tower to the public. For now, weekly updates, photos, and videos will be available via our Instagram (@mrri_njmeadowlands).
Join the Bergen County Audubon society as they guide you through DeKorte Park, the gem of the Meadowlands park system! They’ll be on the lookout for waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. The walk goes from 10 a.m. to noon.
Meet outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.
Look, the buds on the Pussy willow are beginning to pop! The Mountain Mint battles the still frosty ground and the Red-winged Blackbirds chant from the tall grasses to tell the world now that it is time for all to wake up.
It’s the same with many of us. Some folks dare to step a foot outside again, things are even beginning to sound different, we can hear the birds that since time and immemorial told us of the seasons arrival. Even the sky is changing. The clouds are different, the mud squishes under our feet, the sun shines longer and warmer, and a spring flower tries desperately to attract our attention, asking only for a nod as we run to the next scheduled parking lot – concrete and steel event.
Pussy willows – Credit: Don Torino
Mourning Cloak butterflies will startle you on your walk through the woods. Robins will find places to raise the next generation right under your window. The magnificent colors of the Tree swallows will soon brighten our everyday lives as the Monarch Butterflies and the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds once again begin their incredible, perilous spring journeys.
Torino Lane Hummingbird – Credit: Don Torino
The magic of nature is endless, its events boundless, its connection to all of us forever ageless, and it is just waiting patiently, but never pausing, for us to take notice, breath it all in and let it soak back into our souls in whatever way we are able.
Red-winged Blackbird – Credit: Dee DeSantis
Nature is the one true constant, it is the reality getting overwhelmed by a simulated world with no basis in who or what we truly are, or what we always have been, which is part of nature as much as any bird or flower.
Monarch Butterfly – Credit: Linda Antenucci
Get outside this spring, connect with it, take it all in, become a kid again. It is there for all of us to enjoy, experience and to help us all to heal. No matter who we believe ourselves to be, who we love, where we live, how much money we have or don’t have, get back into nature, learn again to love it and, once you do, remember to preserve and protect it, for all of us and forever.
The NJSEA William D. McDowell Observatory will be open from midnight on Thursday, March 13, until 3 a.m. on Friday, March 14, for viewing the Total Lunar Eclipse/Blood Moon. The eclipse will also be visible from your backyard.
During this celestial event, the moon will slip into Earth’s shadow for 65 minutes, taking on a deep reddish hue in what’s often called a “Blood Moon.”
Be sure to call the Observatory Hotline at 201-460-4001 on March 13 regarding event status.
Join the BCAS as they lead a guided nature walk at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus. We’ll be on the lookout for waterfowl, raptors and songbirds. The walk runs from 10 a.m. to noon.
Meet at the trail entrance off the back parking lot of Bob’s Discount Furniture, 3 Mill Creek Drive, Secaucus.
Join the Bergen County Audubon Society and be on the lookout for waterfowl, raptors and songbirds on this guided walk of the jewel of the Meadowlands Park System.
The walk goes from 10 am to noon. Meet outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.
Join the Bergen County Audubon Society and be on the lookout for waterfowl, raptors and songbirds on this guided walk of the jewel of the Meadowlands Park System.
The walk goes from 10 am to noon. Meet outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.
