Join the Bergen County Audubon Society this Sunday, July 1, for a special Native Plant and Butterfly Walk at DeKorte Park from 10 am to noon. They’ll be spotlighting the hundreds of native plants, flowers and shrubs and the various butterfly species that inhabit the park. For more information contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

And don’t forget to register for Butterfly Day on Sunday, July 29. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes butterfly walks and talks and plenty of kid’s activities including a scavenger hunt and costume contest (12 and under). For more info and to register click here

A few weeks ago  a friend asked me If I would attend an event where I would be able to tell any story I wanted about the time I spend outdoors birding. I thought about it and then laughed.

Imagine that someone would organize an event where people would get together and actually talk about nature and birding?  After all, isn’t that what all birders do when they get together ?  Tell our stories? Yes, of course, that is what we do. Why ? Because what we love to do will always be about our life’s stories.

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Join the Bergen County Audubon Society this Sunday, July 1, for a special Native Plant and Butterfly Walk at DeKorte Park from 10 am to noon. They’ll be spotlighting the hundreds of native plants, flowers and shrubs and the various butterfly species that inhabit the park. For more information contact Don Torino at greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

And don’t forget to register for Butterfly Day on Sunday, July 29. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes butterfly walks and talks and plenty of kid’s activities including a scavenger hunt and costume contest (12 and under). For more info and to register click here

Snowy Egret

Here’s the third and final batch of Joe Koscielny’s photos from last week’s Bergen Audubon walk at Mill Creek Marsh. The next BCAS Meadowlands walk is this coming Sunday, July 1, a special native plant and butterfly walk at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst!

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

Northern Mockingbird

Spotted Sandpiper

Brown-headed Cowbird

Mallards

As promised, here are more great photos taken by Joe Koscielny during last week’s Bergen Audubon walk at Mill Creek Marsh. We’ll have a final batch from Joe in a bit. Thanks Joe!

Yellow Warbler

Gray Catbird

Great Egret

Monarch Butterfly

Thanks to Joe Koscielny for these photos of wildlife and plant life taken during last Tuesday’s Bergen County Audubon Society walk at Mill Creek Marsh! We’ll have more from Joe later.

Herring Gull

Milkweed

Mallard

False Bindweed – Native perennial that twines around other plants as it grows. The flowers are white, pink or striped.

Tree Swallow Feeding Young

Gull With Crab

Purple Crown Vetch – Non-native. It’s an herbaceous vine that forms sprawling mats; flowers range in color from white, pink and purple

This Black Skimmer literally had take out for lunch today, swooping down on an unsuspecting prey. Thanks to Dennis Cheeseman for the Skimmer sequence and more!

Least Bittern

Least Bittern

Apparently there’s something going on, and the young tree swallow in the nest box above is excited to share the news. Thanks to Lior Abitbol for the great pics taken over the past week at DeKorte Park!

Tree Swallow

Male Downy Woodpecker

Female Downy Woodpecker

Mallard

Yesterday Gov. Phil Murphy announced New Jersey’s first State Reptile: The Bog Turtle! The turtle was awarded the honor through a lobbying effort by an elementary school class at the Riverside School in Princeton.

According to a story on nj.com, “The bog turtle is both small and colorful. Typically only about four inches long, this is one of the smallest turtles found in North America according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bog turtles are identified by the iconic orange, yellow or red spots on each side of their head. Most importantly, the bog turtle has been federally listed as threatened since 1997 and has been listed as endangered in New Jersey since 1974 “

While Bog Turtles are not found in the Meadowlands, we’re still proud of our State Reptile!

Read up on the Bog Turtle here

Tree Swallows have happy homes once again in the Meadowlands this year thanks to the hard work of NJSEA naturalists who installed the boxes prior to the birds’ spring arrival. Many of the boxes were donated by Scouts and other civic groups. Chris Takacs reports that lots of young are being fed all around DeKorte as well as other spots. Birds are being fed at boxes as well as tree perches.

So a big thank you to everyone involved! And to Chris Takacs for these great photos!