Monthly Archives: November 2017

Saving The Great Swamp: Battle to Defeat the Jetport; Documentary to Air Wednesday

Scott Morris Productions

A documentary on the battle to protect the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County from plans to build a 10,000-acre jetport on the property in the early 1960s will air this week on NJTV.

The program is scheduled to air on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. and at 2 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 17. The film earned a Best Documentary award at the 2017 New Jersey Film Festival.

The film chronicles the grassroots movement by a group of people to protect the landmark natural area from development. According to an article on northjersey.com, “The documentary features in-depth interviews with residents, historians and officials, and a tapestry of historic film footage, old photographs and high-end cinematography of the Great Swamp today.”

For more information on the film, click here

 

Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Nature Knows Best – The Last Flowers

Last Flowers of Summer at DeKorte: Butterfly Bush 11.8.17

A few weeks ago I met someone who is a frequent visitor to one of our Bergen Audubon butterfly gardens . She sat back in her chair and looked at me with sad eyes and said, “Don, things are not good at the butterfly garden.” Needless to say I immediately became alarmed and many catastrophic scenarios began to race through my head.

Was there vandalism? Did a heard of ravenous deer take up residence? Did the groundhogs and bunnies form an evil alliance against the garden making all our hard work for naught? So, it was with great anxiety that I finally got up the nerve to ask the question “What Happened?”

It was then that my fellow lover of the  garden looked up at me again with her big, almost teary eyes and said, “the flowers are almost gone, Summer is over.”

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Photos from Sunday’s DeKorte Walk

Thanks to Don Torino for the great bird watchers photo above, including a father-daughter birder combo, taken during this past Sunday’s (Nov.5) BCAS Nature Walk at DeKorte Park. Many thanks also Joe Koscielny for the great shots of the variety of species seen on Sunday below.

Don’t miss the next Bergen County Audubon Society Meadowlands Nature Walk, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, from 10 am to noon at Mill Creek Marsh in Secaucus. They’ll be looking for sparrows and other fall migrants. For more info contact Don at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

Buffleheads

Great Egret

Ruddy Ducks

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Mute Swans

Reminder: BCAS Nature Walk This Sunday (Nov. 5) at DeKorte Park!

Join the Bergen County Audubon Society this Sunday, Nov. 5, for a nature walk at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst from 10 am to noon. The walk meets outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza. They’ll be looking for fall migrants and numerous ducks including Ruddies and Pintails.

For more info contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Get Ready for Backyard Raptors

Red-tailed Hawk
Jimmy Macaluso

It is just about the time of year for my phone to start ringing with calls that begin much like this: “Help there is a hawk in my yard eating the birds at my feeder! What should I do?”  My answer is usually the same and often not much appreciated by the frantic caller. “ It’s okay. Tat is why they call them bird feeders.”

Its  right about then there is a  dead silence for a second or two, and if they didn’t hang up on me by then I try to explain that is tough sometimes seeing some of your favorite birds becoming breakfast, but you are witnessing nature at its best.

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