New couples are finding it very hard to find suitable housing in the Garden State this year . Commercialization and urban sprawl are making life tough for these families to locate places where they can settle down and raise their young . There is stiff competition for housing that already exists and unless they can find help these families may have to seriously think twice about raising a family and bringing forth their next generation here in New Jersey.

The housing shortage I speak of occurs in all our own towns and cities and backyards and parks. It is our birds that are in serious need of some housing this Spring.

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Ron Shield’s car woes yesterday are our gain.

Ron writes: If your car battery is going to die, what better place than in front of the Clay Avenue Wetlands! I shot these photos from my car window during the height of yesterday’s blow. A dozen or so male and female hooded mergansers were present.

As for Ron’s car, AAA came to the rescue.

Mickey Raine sent a dispatch of his recent DeKorte Park excursions, accompanied by some wonderful photos of canvasbacks, sunsets and ice formations. Thanks Mickey!

We wanted to share some winter delights captured in the Meadowlands–Richard DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, in this case.

The sunset photos were taken at the very end of January on very cold days, but nothing compared to that last two days.  In any event, there is always something so special about the Golden or Magic Hour at DeKorte, and as I often say, one does not need to have a variety of birds present to truly enjoy this wonderful site, and winter, as cold and challenging as it can be sometimes, offers excellent experiences to learn and appreciate the miracles of nature.

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 We are honoring Black History Month with a weekly post each Monday throughout February on people and places related to the Meadowlands. The posts are taken from our archives and were originally done by former staffer Jim Wright.

   Gethsemane Cemetery in Little Ferry is located on an acre on a sandy hill just off Route 46 and Liberty Street.  The photo above is a view of the cemetery’s entrance on Summit Place.

It was set aside in 1860 as a burial ground for African-American residents of nearby Hackensack. The last burial took place in 1924.

The site was entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 “because of the significant role it played in the enactment of New Jersey’s early civil rights legislation, as well as containing evidence of West African burial customs,” according to the Bergen County  Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.

According to the agency, “Fewer than 50 gravestones remain, but the burials of more than  500 people have been documented.

“They include Elizabeth Sutliff Dulfer who was born a slave in the late 1700s, freed in 1822, and died in 1880. She was one of the area’s wealthiest businesswomen and landholders. [Dulfer owned clay beds that supplied clay to potteries from Philadelphia to Boston. Her clay company along the Hackensack River was said to be the second-largest in the nation.]

“Two Civil War veterans, Peter Billings and Silas M. Carpenter, were also buried here.”

Click “Continue reading …” to learn more about the cemetery’s role in early civil-rights legislation. Continue reading →

Join the Bergen County Audubon Society for tomorrow’s Meadowlands Nature Walk at DeKorte Park! They’ll be looking for waterfowl, raptors and wintering birds. The free walk takes place from 10 am to noon and meets in the Meadowlands Environment Center parking lot. For more information: greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

New Jersey Audubon Society

There’s an interesting story in today’s Record about Bobwhites from Georgia being introduced into New Jersey to try and increase the quail’s numbers. They were once common in the state but their numbers have plummeted. Read the story here.

How many bird species can you spot in a half-hour? Try your luck during any 30-minute period today through Monday. The top birders in the Birdy 30 contest will receive prizes. For more on the competition, including how to register and submit your list, read Jim Wright’s Record column here.

DeKorte Park will be OPEN on Monday Feb. 15. Please disregard previous post stating that it would be closed. I regret any inconvience.

Thanks to all who attended Don Smith’s talk today on the natural history of the Meadowlands at the Meadowalnds Environment Center. Don covered the history of the region, from its formation as part of a glacier to its European settlement and despoiling by decades of pollution to its remarkable environmental recovery and home for wildlife.

Don is a dynamic speaker and Meadowlands native who grew up exploring the region in the 1950s and 1960s. Those in attendance were impressed with his knowledge and the Meadowlands’ fascinating history.

“This was fantastic,” said Rutherford resident Jay Delgado. “There are so many topics and subtopics about Meadowlands history that can be discussed.” Jay, who is a Troop Leader for Boy Scout Troop 166 in Rutherford, said he wants to bring his scouts to the next talk.

Don’t miss our upcoming programs at the Environment Center. We’ll be hosting our first “Evening Yoga” program on Monday, Feb. 22, and the Bergen County Audubon Society will give a presentation on “Creating a Certified Wildlife Garden on Thursday, Feb. 25. For more information on these programs, click here.