Becky Penhaker did a neat story on Butterfly Day in The Record today.

Link is here.

Tonight: Jim Wright of the Meadowlands Commission and Don Torino of Bergen County Audubon will be on the cable-TV news show, NBC New York Nonstop with Chuck Scarborough. The program airs live at 7 p.m. We should be on after 7:25 for a minute or two.

Here's where you can see the show on various Cable providers:

NBC New York Nonstop:

Over the Air:  4.2; Time Warner Cable:  161; Cablevision: 109; Comcast: 248; Verizon FIOS:  460; RCN: 189

We are going ahead as planned for Sunday's Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park.

Temperatures are supposed to be around 90 degrees but the forecast is otherwise promising. 

The MEC is air-conditioned, and it has a couple of water fountains.

Bottled water will also be for sale, but you are welcome to bring your beverages, lunch and sun block.

Schedule of events is here.

Feel free to check the blog for updates — they will be posted at the top of the page.  Thank you!

With the prolonged heat wave, butterfly sightings seem to fluctuate, but we had a good morning yesterday, with a first-of-the-season (for us) Gray Hairstreak (above) sharing some Coreopsis with two Pearl Crescents. Also had a Viceroy and a Clear-winged Moth, plus assorted skippers and Cabbage Whites.

We are hoping to have some good butterflies on Sunday for Butterfly Day.

Click here for more on the schedule for this free, family-friendly event brought to you by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, Bergen Country Audubon Society, and the Northern New Jersey chapter of the North American Butterfly Association.

You can't really tell from the photo how big this bug is, but it is one huge wasp with an amazing reproduction strategy. 

By the way, they live less than two months as adults and rarely sting humans. Seen yesterday near the Butterfly Garden and in Harrier Meadow.

Oh, yes — the amazing reproductive strategy. The female paralyzes Cicadas, lays her eggs inside, and then buries them.  More on Ciacada Killers here.

Dave Rotondi reports:

Wild Turkey in Rutherford is still around — this time it let me get close for a better picture. (Thanks, Dave!)

Sandy Sorkin filed this report
yesterday evening:

The temperature in the Meadowlands had to be 100 today [Wednesday]and very few people were as foolish as I was to be walking around with heavy cameras. 

Most of the birds were trying to cool off by doing nothing but eating and floating.  The exception was the Forster Tern population.  

Their chicks were just almost ready to feed themselves, but the parents were still involved in training.  The adults would bring small fish and then give the chicks flying lessons.

Nevertheless, the parents were doing a lot of diving …

Thanks, Sandy! Same goes for today.

Sunday is Butterfly Day at DeKorte. The free, family-friendly event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bring lunch, sunblock and plenty of water. it should be fun — but hot!

Full schedule of the day's events follows. Or download it here:

Download 2011 Butterfly Day Schedule

Continue reading →

                                                       Pipevine Swallowtail

NJMC staffer Jim Wright, who keeps this blog, also writes a column every other Thursday for The South Bergenite. His latest, about the Butterfly Day this Sunday at DeKorte, is below:

July is my “nervous” month at DeKorte Park – thanks to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s annual Butterfly Day.

This year’s event is this Sunday (July 24), from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and its success depends a lot on the whims of Mother Nature. You just never know how many butterflies – or butterfly species – will show up on the big day.  If it’s a sunny day with a gentle breeze, there could be butterflies galore. If it’s cloudy or windy, it’s anybody’s guess.

We have been very lucky so far.

Continue reading →

We should have put a dime next to it for size comparison, but didn't want to interrupt his prayer. Photographed last week.