DeKorte Park’s Saw Mill Creek Trail is closed until further notice for PSE&G upgrades and trail renovations.

This will be a very dangerous construction site, with high voltage wires. There are no exceptions to this prohibition.

In short: Keep out.

In anticipation of our free Butterflies for Beginners Program on Sunday, July 6, and our free Butterfly Day, July 27, we have started a list of butterfly sightings, posted just inside the door at the MEC.

Below are pix of the butterfly board, a Summer Azure (we think) and a Silver-spotted Skipper. All photographed today.

Great news!  Construction on the Marsh Discovery Trail begins on Monday (June 30).

This work will repair damage from Superstorm Sandy. The contract runs through November, and we expect the work to be completed by then.

Note: The contractor will be setting up a staging area in the gravel overflow parking area opposite the Marsh Discovery Trail main entrance, at the start of the Kingsland Overlook Trail.

Please use caution when traveling through this area: Workers will be crossing the entrance road frequently.

It is possible a section of the Environment Center parking lot may be needed for storage as well.

A secondary work area will be accessed from Transco Trail: It will be closed only for the time needed to complete that part of the work. This blog will post that info when it becomes available.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation. We love this trail as much as you do and can’t wait for it to reopen!

Allan Sanford reported on eBird that he saw a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in DeKorte Park’s Lyndhurst Nature Reserve yesterday (Thursday), plus a male Wood Duck x Mallard hybrid “mixed in with quite a few juv. mallards…. Shorebird Pool, Transco Trail.”

(Thanks, Allan. trying to get some pix.)

The other week, NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse and Zach Batren got a good look at the banded Peregrine male nesting under the Route 3 bridge, and Zach got a photo where the band was readable.

Mike submitted the band number, and just got a certificate and info about the the bird from the USGS. It turns out the bird was banded as a nestling in New York State in 2012.

Certificate follows — always a good idea to report a band number.

(Thanks, Mike and Zach!) Continue reading →