Our next free guided nature walk is Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the legendary Harrier Meadow in North Arlington 
— and it features a not-to-be-missed bird-banding demonstration by NJMC naturalist Mike Newhouse.
The 70-acre site — usually off limits to the public — features ponds and tidal impoundments and shorebirds aplenty.
Butterflies and dragonflies, too, with a little luck.
The event is sponsored by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society. Full listing follows.
Jim Wright, who maintains this blog for the Meadowlands Commission, also writes a twice monthly "Nature Next Door" column for The South Bergenite. Here is his latest — a look at "The Lost Bird Project."
One of the missions of the Meadowlands Commission is to protect our local environment, and understand the importance of this mission, you need only attend a special free screening of an hour-long documentary tonight in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
The highly acclaimed film is “The Lost Bird Project,” the story of sculptor Todd McGrain and his tributes to five North American birds that have gone extinct — the Heath Hen, the Passenger Pigeon, the Labrador Duck, the Great Auk and the Carolina Parakeet.
“Our initial goal was to simply tell the story of Todd’s efforts to place the memorials to the five birds near where they went extinct,” says Scott Anger, the film’s cinematographer and co-producer.
“But it quickly grew into an elegy to the birds and a way to connect viewers to the incredible stories behind each one. These five birds went extinct because of callous practices and a complete disregard for the natural world.”
We are expecting a very strong turnout for the free special screening of "The Lost Bird Project" tonight at 7 p.m.
If you do not have a ticket or have not rsvp'd by phone, please call 201-777-2431 to make sure seats are still available.
We advise you to allow plenty of time to get to the park, find a parking space and get a seat.
More info follows.
Our latest "Focus on the Meadowlands" post for the wildnewjersey.tv includes this photo of a Clapper Rail — taken from one of the NJMC's pontoon boats in the Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area.
The link to the post is here.