If you are interested in joining Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission for a two-hour “birding by boat” pontoon-boat cruise tomorrow, contact us asap.

Click here for details.

Boat skipper Angelo Urato reports that this morning “we spotted eight ospreys on and around the Boonton Line Swing Bridge.  No activity at the the Main line draw bridge.” (Angelo also supplied the photo above: thanks, Angelo!)

The Hudson Reporter has a nifty article this week about Butterfly Day, complete with slide show.

Here’s the beginning:

Different sizes. A multitude of shapes. And, of course, an unlimited palette of colors. All these traits will be visible in the insects that have a starring role at Butterfly Day, hosted by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) on Sunday, July 28.

“[It’s] a festival dedicated to the beauty of butterflies,” said commission spokesman Brian Aberback. “It’s our signature event.”

The link is here.

Rob Fanning reports:

Had at 3 or 4 Least Terns fly by and one of them hung around to fish for a while at DeKorte [this morning].  Also had flyover Harrier (which flushed the flock of yellowlegs and dows), heard Blue Grosbeak at Disposal Road, and had a Pheasant fly across the road and over me while driving on Valley Brook!  (Thanks, Rob!)

Regina Geoghan photographed this Gray Hairsteak at DeKorte Park over the weekend — the first one reported here this year. Let’s hope we see one on Sunday’s Butterfly Day. (Thanks, Regina!)

Don Torino’s latest column for wildnewjersey.tv is about The Meadowlands, butterflies, and an amazing environmental recovery.

Here’s a sample:

“Everyone everywhere who loves and appreciates nature has been in awe of the return of the New Jersey Meadowlands. From a place that was the butt of bad jokes to an urban wilderness paradise where Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, and Bald Eagles flourish.

“Just as the return of the many wonderful bird species to the Meadowlands has signified a return to a more healthy bio diverse environment, so to do the butterflies of the Meadowlands indicate a vigorous and vital habitat resurgence like never seen before in New Jersey…

“Having grown up in the Meadowlands, I have witnessed firsthand the some of the worst tragedies that could be bestowed upon the environment. But now still living in the Meadowlands, I have also seen firsthand the amazing things that can be accomplished when people care enough and work hard to do what sometimes seems the most difficult of things to do – the right thing. Butterfly Day is testament to doing the right thing.”

The link is here. (Thanks, Don, and thanks to Sandy Sorkin for the new photo of the Eastern Tailed-blue!)

Isabella Tiger Moth

Here are more pix from Moth Night, including the pic above of an Isabella Tiger Moth (which once was a Wooly Bear Caterpillar).

The event included a talk and slide show by Elena Tartaglia of National Moth Week, some moth baiting on trees outside DeKorte Park’s Meadowlands Environment Center, and three moth collection sheets — two Mercury Vapor Lamps and one black light.

One of the fun aspects of events like this is the other cool bugs you see while looking for moths. These included a fresh cicada exoskeleton, a native Stinkbug, and a nifty spider.

Next up: Butterfly Day this Sunday, DeKorte Park, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free and family-friendly.

Pix of a Prominent moth and more shots from Moth Night follow. Continue reading →

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) is pleased to announce that it will host its Fourth Annual Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park on Sunday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The highly popular, family-friendly event includes butterfly walks and talks, a scavenger hunt and butterfly costume contest for kids, and information tables.

Last year nearly 700 people attended Butterfly Day.

The Butterfly Day schedule includes frequent butterfly walks and an hourly slide show and talk on the butterflies of DeKorte Park. A native plant walk is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. There are also Day-long scavenger hunts for children.

This year the Commission has added a Butterfly Costume contest, inspired by the many children who have attended past events dressed in butterfly regalia.

The costume contest is at 1 p.m. and is for ages 12and under, with prizes awarded to the top three winners. In addition, there will be several raffle drawings for great prizes including tickets to NJMC Pontoon Boat Cruises on the Hackensack River.

Butterflies commonly seen in DeKorte Park at this time of year include Black Swallowtails, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Pearl Crescents.

The centerpiece of Butterfly Day is Jill’s Garden. Located just outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, the garden features cone flowers, butterfly bushes and butterfly weed to attract butterflies.

Jill’s Garden was built to honor the memory of Rutherford native Jill Ann Ziemkiewicz, the youngest member of the flight crew assigned to TWA flight 800, which fell into the ocean off Long Island on July 17, 1996.

Adjutant Wainscot 

Denise Farrell of the Bergen County Audubon Society took several nifty moth pix last night, with IDs. Two more follow. (Thanks, Denise!) Continue reading →

A big thank you to everyone who participated in our second annual Moth Night last night, brought to you by the folks who created National Moth Week and sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission  and Bergen County Audubon Society.

The consensus of attendees — and we estimate we had 75 participants of all ages — was that it was a fun and educational event despite the persnickety weather. We will post more pix as time allows — including several taken and ID’d by Denise Farrell of the BCAS.

In honor of Butterfly Day this Saturday at DeKorte Park,  here’s a little butterfly that wants your ID.

Photo by Patrick Carney — too bad he couldn’t get the eye bigger.  :- )   (Thanks, Patrick!)