Polyphemus moths (Antheraea polyphemus), like other members of the giant silkworm family, have wingspans of up to 6 inches. © Jim des Rivières

The 3rd annual Meadowlands Moth Night is less than a month away, and if you want to start doing your homework — and you have an iPad — do we have the app for you.

Jim des Rivieres, the extraordinary moth photographer from Canada who participated in our Moth Night unannounced last year, has created an extraordinary free app for iPads courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

You can download it here.

Jim’s moth photography was on view last year at the American Museum of Natural History. You can read about it — and see more of Jim’s moth photography — here.

RECORD PHOTO BY AMY NEWMAN Andrea Dunchus, left, of Kinnelon, a student at Williams College; Rebecca Barnard, center, a 2013 graduate of Temple University; and Jess Groeneweg of Wheaton College in Illinois.

Jim O’Neill, ace environmental reporter for The Record, had a neat story in yesterday’s paper about checking the Hackensack River for invasive shrimp.  Who knew?

The link is here.

We have two free guided walks set for Sunday, July 6, at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst — a bird-oriented nature walk at 10 a.m. and a butterflies-for-beginners program and walk at 1 p.m.

Full listings follow. Continue reading →

Don Torino’s latest column for wildnewjersey.tv is on the arrival of $4,000’s worth of native plants for DeKorte Park, thanks to Bergen County Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society.

Here’s a sample:

Richard DeKorte Park, established more than 30 years ago, started as a grand experiment. It was one of the first landfill reclamation projects in the world and has been a nationwide model for what can be accomplished by converting old landfills to crucial wildlife habitat.

“The native plant industry barely existed when we began planting at DeKorte,” said Lisa Cameron, Senior Landscape Architect for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. “Getting our hands on the thousands of plants required to cover the bare six-acre slope proved to be quite a challenge. Substitutions had to be made for several species. It’s a whole different story these days.

“In addition to the Serviceberry and Eastern Red Cedars, Winterberry Holly, Red-twig Dogwood and Gray Dogwood, American Beautyberry and Washington Hawthorne have now been introduced.”

Native plants are the foundation of a healthy and vital wildlife habitat and the Bergen County Audubon Society was proud to be able to add to such a wonderful place that both BCAS and I call home.

The link to full column is here.

The DeKorte Park daylilies (above) have exploded in color, and the wildflower gardens are looking mighty frisky as well. Our Parks Department and landscape crew do a great job.

The fountain in Jill’s Garden in DeKorte Park is getting some great bathing beauties, including the Cedar Waxwing above and the female oriole below.

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, and there are no exceptions to this prohibition.  In short: Please keep out. The Transco Trail will remain open from the Carillon to the turnpike.

A South Bergenite article on the closing is here.

Thinking of visiting DeKorte Park or nearby Disposal Road this weekend?

To see what’s being reported at DeKorte on eBird Hotspot Explorer, click here.

To see what’s being reported along Disposal Road on eBird Hotspot Explorer, click 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 5 years of blog posts by using the Google search engine in the upper-right part of the blog. Let the searches begin.

Save the dates, because we have a boatload of great events with Bergen County Audubon Society this month — from a Moth Night to a Butterfly Day, from a Birding By Boat to a great walk in the park.

Full details follow. Continue reading →