March 12-15, 2015
Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ
Garden Displays, Garden Shopping, Presentations, Café, Kids Zone
Click here for Springfest website.
Click here for online discount coupon.
DeKorte Park will be represented by Garden State Gardens!
NJMC staffer Drew McQuade caught this harbor seal hitching a ride on an ice floe in the Hackensack River yesterday. The shot was taken near Laurel Hill. Thanks Drew!
Not new, but fun to look at, these maps from Mother Nature Network illustrate the best and worst of each of our 50 United States on a host of environmental issues.
View them here.
Wednesday, March 18, 12-1 pm
$6 per person; $5 for MEC members
This is the first in a new series of 1-hour mid-day talks on various topics. Pack your lunch and come on down.
This talk will be hosted by yours truly, Lisa Cameron, Senior Landscape Architect with the NJMC. We’ll celebrate the warm temperatures and welcome the growing season with an overview of gardening basics from a design perspective. We’ll talk about the functions of plants in the landscape and how to select the right ones for your situation. We’ll also touch upon related topics such as pruning and mulching. Register here please.
Today’s NY Times includes a great op-ed piece by Douglas Tallamy about the benefits to wildlife when we choose native plants. Read it here.
The column also links to a gorgeous photo-essay showing specific plant/animal associations. Good stuff.
“A recent study looked at Michigan’s bald eagle population and found that they are the most contaminated birds on the planet based on banned flame retardant chemicals found in their livers.”
Read the story from TreeHugger here.
Read the story from Environmental Health News here.
Read the original report in the Journal of Great Lakes Research here.
10 – noon
Textural Expression: Letting your Inner Artist Bloom
Teens and adults, Meadowlands Environment Center
A two-hour session on how to greater express the world around you using chalk pastels. Participants will explore texture and color to create a fantasy inspired landscape. Each person will walk away with a finished piece that will inspire a taste for art. No experience necessary. Supplies are covered in the cost of the class. $15/person; $12 MEC members. Pre-registration required, register here.
2 – 3 pm
The Buzz about Bees
All ages, Meadowlands Environment Center
Join Meadowlands beekeeper Erik Swanson as he gives a family-friendly talk about honeybees, why they are so important and why they are in trouble. You’ll also be able to observe live bees up-close in an observation hive. Erik will have his Meadowlands honey for sale. $6/person; $5 MEC members. Register here please.
You might wonder how you can tell if the eagle you are seeing in the vicinity of Ridgefield Park is Alice, the town’s nesting female. Jim Wright shared the following:
“As this photo taken last month by Ron Shields shows, Alice has a transmitter on her back and is missing a flight feather on her right wing. The transmitter was placed on her back in 2004, when she was an eaglet, by Peter Nye of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation. It no longer works, but that transmitter and antenna are a quick way to identify Alice.”
Thanks, Jim and Ron, for the post and the pic!
Muskrat trapping has been part of the meadowlands ecology for centuries. A hundred years ago, you could find 40 or 50 trappers active throughout the November-March season. Today that number may be as low as half a dozen.
In this week’s South Bergenite you can learn more from one of the last of the local trappers, in my first installment of Nature Next Door.
Due to inclement weather, the NJMC offices at DeKorte Park will be CLOSED for the day March 5, 2015. Landfill operations will be open for regular hours.