Daily Archives: March 2, 2009

Best-selling Author speaking at NJMC

  Rev13big Science writer Dava Sobel, the best-selling author of “Galileo’s Daughter,” will give a talk and sign books at 1 p.m. on March 14 at the Meadowlands Environment Center.

    Sobel will speak about her books and the International Year of Astronomy 2009, a year-long celebration marking 400 years since Galileo first pointed his telescope toward the stars.

   The event is part of the NJMC’s 40th Anniversary celebration.

   A link to her Web site is here.

  Click "Continue reading…" to learn more about Sobel and her talk,  other 40th anniversary events, and our observatory.


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MONK PARAKEET VIDEO

  
   We shot the above video last week when we checked in on our favorite Monk Parakeet colony, in Ridgefield, in the northeasternmost part of the district.

  IMG_0051   The video is just footage of the birds hanging out on and near their nests, located on a railroad bridge in a commercial district not far from the center of town.

   They are delightful to watch, but not quite as delightful to hear — as you'll learn if you play the video with the audio up.

  The birds seem incredibly social, flitting around the area and occasionally cuddling with one another == which may explain why the Monk Parakeet on the left is gathering nesting material.

   One of the delights of seeing these birds — especially on a cold windy way — is to see their vibrant colors and think (for an instant) you are in the tropics. 

  Previous posts on the Monk Parakeets of Ridgefield are here.

  The Bergen Record's Mike Kelly did a column on these amazing birds today. The link is here.