We just heard the news that Ruby Dee died. Five years ago, in honor of Black History Month, we did a post about her.  Here it is again, in her memory…

Photo credit: AT&T Archives.

Actress and civil rights champion Ruby Dee, who was born in Cleveland in 1924 and raised in Harlem, worked at the Western Electric Company’s Kearny Works during World War II, soldering wires on an assembly line.

She graduated from Hunter College and got her first Broadway role in a play called “Jeb,” about a black GI war hero. The star was Ossie Davis, whom she married two years later.

Both Davis and Dee were active in the Civil Rights Movement throughout their careers. Dee has been involved with the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Dee starred in “American Gangster,” set in part in Bergen County, in 2007.

For more information on Ruby Dee, click here.

For more information on Kearny’s Western Electric plant, click “Continue reading…”  Continue reading →

On last Sunday’s Plant walk with Edith Wallace in DeKorte Park, we saw several butterflies, including this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Just add sunshine to the forecast, and you might be all set.

Although NJMC staffers saw “only” four or five Black Skimmers at River Barge Park in Secaucus on Sunday, Jana Brusich reported (and photographed) a dock-full.

We tried counting all of them but gave up. Best viewing time is typically near high tide. To find when high tide is at River Barge Park, get the tide tables for Garretts Reach here.

Needless to say, it has been a great year for Black Skimmers in the Meadowlands.

Photo copyright Don Torino, 2014

Don Torino, who helps lead many of the walks we do with the Bergen County Audubon Society, wrote his latest column for wildnewjersey.tv on an art project for kids, based on the documentary “The Lost Bird Project,” which we screened in DeKorte Park in Sept. 2012.

“The student’s art projects consisted of drawings, sculptures and poems to honor the lost birds,” Don writes. “Through the eyes of these children, one could not help but be touched by their emotion.

“To make a child come to a realization that there are birds that once existed that they will never see is tragic, and then to explain that even today there are many more birds that could be lost by the time they become adults is perhaps even more difficult. I could feel them asking, ‘How could we let this happen?’ No answer I could think of could suffice.”

Don’s column is here.

More than a decade ago, TV Guide put out “Sopranos Companion,” a special magazine about the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

We recently discovered a copy at a yard sale. Inside was a map of “Soprano Land,” with a cool section on the Meadowlands. Sadly, the map did not include Pizza Land in North Arlington.

The series reinforced some old stereotypes of the region but also gave it some newfound notoriety.

We can only guess how popular the series would have been if it featured more Meadowlands sunsets, egrets, skimmers and terrapins.

Thanks to the Bergen County Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society, DeKorte Park is getting nearly $4,000 worth of new native plants — ranging from Serviceberries to Viburnums.

Planting began today along the Kinglsland Overlook Trail (above) and by the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve (below).

BCAS and NAS, we thank you, the birds thank you, the butterflies thank you, and park-goers thank you!

Pamela Jackson, whose ancestors were from Secaucus (see yesterday’s post), found this clipping in a family Bible a while back, and shared it with us.

Coming Thursday: “Soprano Land” map featuring the Meadowlands.

Jana Brusich passed along this shot of a Black Skimmer in flight, taken in the Maedowlands this weekend.

NJMC staffers report seeing at least five Black Skimmers at River Barge Park on Sunday afternoon, and two were seen in a natural area at noon today. They are definitely around!

(Thanks, Jana!)

As far as we can tell, we may have five active Osprey nests in the Meadowlands, including a nest on the Upper Hack Life Bridge that was a “starter nest” the past two years.

We have reports that the oldest nest in the Meadowlands, in Jersey City, is active again. In addition, Ospreys have rebuilt the nest on the radio tower by the swing bridge in Secaucus. There is activity in the nest in Carlstadt and in the nest off Valley Brook…  potentially five nests in all.

Please let us know of any significant activity at any of the nests.

Our Third Tuesday of the Month Walk for June is the amazing Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus, which abounds in both natural history and local history. Never know what you’ll see at Laurel Hill — Common Ravens, Redtails, Peregrines and more. The walk begins at 10 a.m.

Full information follows. Continue reading →