Striking photographs of majestic birds and delicate, nature-inspired oil paintings by Kearny residents Nicole Zanetakos and Ben Faresich will line the halls of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s (NJMC) Flyway Gallery this winter.

The exhibit, “The Inspiration of Daedalus,” runs from Monday, Dec. 9, through Friday, Feb. 28. A reception is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful craftsman, artisan, architect and inventor.

Zanetakos and Faresich are long-time visitors to DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, the home of the NJMC, and have found inspiration for many of their works at the park.

“The Inspiration of Daedalus” includes Ben’s photographs of bird life from the Galapagos Islands (including the Magnificent Frigatebird (above)  and Nicole’s expressive oil paintings and found wood objects.

The pair has recently curated several group exhibits and had their own works shown at galleries and studios in Hoboken, Newark and Miami. Continue reading →

In case you missed it last Sunday, Don Torino of the Bergen County Audubon Society will give an encore presentation on the natural wonders of “Losen Slote Creek Park- Urban Wilderness” at the Little Ferry Free Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 6 p.m.

The BCAS and the Meadowlands Commission offer several free walks in this under-appreciated gem. The goal of Don’s talk is help raise local awareness of the park.

The library is located at 239 Liberty Street. For more information, contact contact Don Torino of the BCAS at greatauk4@aol.com or 201-230-4983.

Edith Wallace, who does such a great job leading several nature walks for Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission each year, was honored by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey on Wednesday night for her life-long contributions to environmental education.

Above, the five recipients (left to right):  Pat Sutton of NJ Audubon, Tracy Leaver of the Woodlands Wildlife Refuge,  Jo Ann Frier-Murza of the Endangered and Nongame Species Program, Edith, and Linda Mead of the D&R Greenway Land Trust.

That’s Edith at right with her award — a beautiful portrait of a Bald Eagle in flight.

The event also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the state and federal Endangered Species Acts.

Congratulations to Edith and the other wonderful recipients of the award.

In this week’s editions, the South Bergenite has a nifty story about Joe Macasek’s recent talk at the MEC about the old Schuyler Copper Mines in North Arlington. — one of the oldest copper mines in the United States.

It was also one of the first mines in the nation to use a steam engine to pump out water.

The link is here.

A link to a photo of one of the pieces of ore mined there is here.

The link top a 1947 newspaper article on the mine is here.

A link to a 2009 Meadowblog post about the mine and Schuyler Avenue is here.

Trying to find something on the blog — an upcoming walk, a certain photographer’s photos, posts on Muskrats, sightings of a favorite butterfly? Don’t forget that you can search 4.5 years of blog posts by using the Google search engine in the upper-right part of the blog. Let the searches begin.

Join the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society for our final free guided walk of the year — at DeKorte Park on Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. to noon.  We’ll look for winter waterfowl (including Canvasbacks, above) in the tidal impoundments and for raptors and whatever else we can find along Disposal Road.

Full listing follows. Continue reading →

Dennis Cheeseman reports seeing an elusive Nelson’s Sparrow yesterday around lunch at Mill Creek Marsh. He saw it in the second cul de sac — see map below.  (Enter from Bob’s Discount Furniture parking lot and take the first right, then follow map.)

This is where Chris Takacs saw an Orange-crowned last month.

Dennis also got a nice Hoodie shot at MCM yesterday, which follows. (Thanks, Dennis.) Continue reading →

The plant in yesterday’s Losen Slote Creek Park Tuesday Teaser-o-rama is a Gray Birch catkin.

More on Gray Birch here.

“A Golden-crowned Kinglet is much smarter than me when it comes to navigation,” writes Don Torino.
Photo Credit: Patrick Carney

Don Torino of the Bergen County Audubon Society, who co-leads many of our walks, also writes a weekly column for wildnewjersey.tv. His latest is about avian intelligence.

Here’s a sample:

As I sat myself down on nearby bench and stretched out my tired legs on a beautiful cold crisp Meadowlands morning, my tired eyes were drawn to an ever so slight movement in a close by shrub.

Before I knew it, a delightful tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet burst out of the foliage and decided to use my shoe as its crow’s nest for finding its next meal.

As I froze in place trying to make this almost magical experience last as long as possible, I thought of how far this little visitor had traveled on such a perilous journey to honor my hiking boot with its presence.

The link is here.

Here are the tallies as of Nov. 30 in the 2013 Meadowlands Big Year contest.

We have one really tight competition, and a record already — Mike Newhouse has eclipsed last year’s winning total of 211 (by Chris Takacs),  and Chris has already equalled last year’s incredible total.

Congrats to all for competing. Most of the tallies are up from last year at this time.

We hope you are having fun near 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 drastically.

If your name’s not on the list and you’d like to compete, please e-mail Jim Wright at jim.wright (at) njmeadowlands.gov.

Here is the leader board as of  Nov. 30:
1. Mike Newhouse 216 (NJMC, setting a target number for competitors.)
2. Chris Takacs: 211, (2012 reigning champion, ineligible for prizes in 2013 as a result, lives in district)
3. Ray Duffy, 183 (in district)
4. Jackie DeMarco, 168 (out of district)
5. Mike Wolfe, 165 species (out of district)
5. Dennis Cheeseman, 165 (out of district)
7. Zach Batren, 158 (out of district)
8. Jim Wright,  157  (NJMC staff, along for the ride)
9. Mike Turso, 138 (out of district)
10. Rob Fanning, 136  (out of district)
11. Oliver Stringham, 131  (in district)
12.  Roy Woodford, 129 (out of district)
13. Julie McCall, 128 (in district).