Monthly Archives: June 2012

Meadowlands Big Year Totals as of May 31

IMG_4805We have tallies through May for the folks involved in the Meadowlands Big Year competition, and (Boy!) did some of the totals jump.

Congrats to all for competing. Great job! We hope you are having fun close to home, and seeing lots of great birds.

Keep in mind that some birders are in the Meadowlands all the time, and others get here occasionally, so their birdage may differ.

(These are unofficial numbers, and obviously change all the time.)

If you're name's not on the list, please e-mail Jim Wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov. It's not too late to participate!

The leader board follows (just to heighten the suspense).

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Black Skimmers at DeKorte, 6 p.m. Last Night

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Two Black Skimmers were silently working the Shorebird Pool last night at 6 p.m.

Caught them out of the corner of our eyes as we left DeKorte Parkand did a U-turn, though not as gracefully as a skimmer.

We have had several other reports in the past couple of weeks of Black Skimmers working the Shorebird Pool in the evening.

If you get the opportunity to watch them in action, count yourself lucky.

In Memory of John R. Quinn

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We are saddened to report that John R. Quinn, a naturalist and writer and illustrator who loved the Meadowlands, died late last month after a long illness.

In his memorable 1997 book "Fields of Sun and Grass, an Artist's Journal of the New Jersey Meadowlands," Quinn wrote that it was here that  "a truce of sorts has been declared and a compromise reached between nature and a technology that has long been estranged from it… In the Meadowlands, something of a reconciliation and healing is under way…

"If the environmental maturity and wisdom acquired here, in the management of this threatened ecosystem, are applied wherever and whenever they are desperately needed, we will, just perhaps, bequeath a livable planet to those whose lives are yet to be lived."

Quinn worked for the Meadowlands Commission as a naturalist for several years and designed the distinctive Meadowlands license plate now seen on so many vehicles in our area.

In an e-mail a few years ago, Quinn wrote that "I have nothing but fond memories of my tenure [at the Quinn AA Meadowlands Commission] — especially paddling then-Governor Whitman around the Mill Creek Marsh with batteries of photogs following us!

Four of Quinn's black-and-white  illustrations from "Fields of Sun and Grass" will appear in "The Nature of the Meadowlands," to be published in the fall by Schiffer books. One of those illustrations is posted above.

A link to The Record's obituary on Quinn, published today, is here.

 

 

Rare Astronomical Event Tuesday: See It @ DeKorte!

The Record had a cool story today on tomorrow night's Transit of Venus.

The Meadowlands Commission is sponsoring a special viewing event:

“Transit of Venus”
5:30 p.m. to sunset Tuesday, June 5.
Free

The NJMC invites the public to view the Transit of Venus at the Commission’s William D. McDowell Observatory. The rare astronomical event occurs when Venus passes directly between the sun and earth. Observers will see a black dot move across the surface of the sun. The next Transit of Venus is not until 2117. This event was celebrated by many historians and artists and served as a means to measure the distance from the earth to the sun.

Event is weather permitting. NJMC William D. McDowell Observatory, DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst. 201-460-8300.

Observatory Director John Sloan is quoted in the story, saying:

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event; I don't know how else to say it," said John Sloan, director of the William D. McDowell Observatory in the Meadowlands Environment Center. "If you work in teaching – science and math – you have the theories; you work through all the mathematics that this should occur at this date. It's nice to see that everything works."

The link to The Record's story is here.

The June DeKorte Observatory Schedule

The William D. McDowell Observatory IMG_5829in DeKorte Park begins a new month of programming tonight (Monday, June 4).

Free public access is from 9 to 10:30 on Monday and Wednesday nights  this month — weather permitting, of course.

Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.

Each evening at least two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.

For more information about free public viewing nights and to check out the observatory's website, click here.

For a South Bergenite column by the NJMC's Jim Wright about the observatory, click here.

Kearny Marsh Cleanup: Making a Difference!

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The Meadowlands Commission, Bergen County Audubon Society  and the Northern New Jersey Geocachers had a 90-minute cleanup of the trail alongside the Kearny Marsh at Gunnell Oval this morning.

Everything went great. DSCN4506We had three dozen folks there, and we filled a Bagster with litter and cut away a lot of underbrush so that the trail is more walkable…

Just wanted to thank Bergen County Audubon Society and the Northern New Jersey Geocachers for their hard work, and also wanted to thank Kearny for giving us the opportunity to help keep this treasure looking great.  (And a big thank you to Waste Management for providing the Bagster!)

This is the third year in a row that the commission, Bergen Audubon and the Geocachers have done a cleanup (with Waste Management’s help) as part of National Trails Day weekend, and we are happy to report that each year there has been a little less work to do.

The photo below was taken at the end of the cleanup — the Bagster (across two parking spaces) filled with litter, old metal pipes, a lawn chair, tubing and a French beard trimmer found by Pam Mistretta, who wins a free signed Osprey print by "Meadowlands" author/artist Tom Yezerski for strangest find.

Again, thank you, Everyone!

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