We got our first Great Spangled Fritillary of the summer at DeKorte at 1:30 p.m. today, at the Jill Ann Zimkiewicz Memorial Butterfly Garden. 

   Last year we didn't get out first one until late August — and it was news. Click here for details.

   Too bad it wasn't here on Sunday for the butterfly walk.

   Tomorrow: Full report on the butterfly walk, with a great pic of a Painted Lady.

  Sunday's Butterfly Walk at DeKorte Park, sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society, was by all accounts a great success.

   We had beautiful weather and a great turnout — roughly 75 people and 15 species of butterflies, including the Viceroy pictured at left.  (Photo courtesy of Deedee Burnside.)

   As one experienced butterfly aficionado reported:  "It was the most butterflies I've seen in one spot yet this year."

   Click "Continue reading…" for a photo of a Broadwing Skipper and a full list.

Continue reading →

We had a hummingbird moth at DeKorte by the Environment Center on Friday around lunchtime. Let's hope he shows up for the Butterfly Walk on Sunday (between 1 and 2:30 p.m.)!
  

     As we get ready for our butterfly walk on Sunday, we'd like to take a moment to honor Jill Ann Ziemkiewicz, in whose memory the butterfly garden outside the Environment Center in DeKorte is named.
     Jill Ann Ziemkiewicz of Rutherford died on July 17, 1996. She was 23, and the youngest flight attendant on TWA Flight800, which crashed into the ocean off Long Island.

   The garden is designed around a sunflower-shaped fountain, is filled with colorful flowers that attract butterflies from late spring into autumn.

   The New York Times article on her memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral is here.

We saw this awesome caterpillar last week near the Carillon on Disposal Road.

   Click "Continue reading …"  for a close-up, a shot of its host plant and what kind of butterfly (we hope) it will become one day.

Continue reading →

   We took this near DeKorte Park's  World Trade Center Memorial Cove on Monday.
   The butterfly is a Silver-spotted Skipper.
   The bush is a Virginia Sweetspire.

    We are hoping to post butterfly sightings frequently this summer. Let us know what you are seeing in the Meadowlands — when and where — and send us your digital images if you can!

  On Sunday, July 19, the Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society are sponsoring "Butterflies for Beginners," offered free to anyone interested in learning how to identify the butterflies of the Meadowlands.

   Optics for butterflies and backyard butterfly gardens will be discussed, followed by a short walk.  Butterfly aficionados of all levels are welcome.

    The event is from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Jill Ann Zimkiewicz Memorial Butterfly Garden in front of the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst.

   To RSVP or get more information, contact Jim Wright of the NJMC here,  or call 201-460-2002.

   Click here to see photos of some of the many types of butterflies that can be seen in DeKorte Park and environs.

   If you’re visiting DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst for the birding festival on Saturday or just enjoying the trails and views, don’t forget to stop by the butterfly garden in front of the Environment Center (first building as you come in).
   A cursory look this morning found four species, including a Monarch and black swallowtail — common but big and bold.

   DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst is a great place to go butterflying — to the point where the North American Butterfly Association even has a nifty little on-line guide about it, listing what butterflies you might see and what times of years you might see them.
   You can access it here.
   The butterfly above is a Great Spangled Fritillary, recently photographed at DeKorte’s Butterfly Garden and even more recently added to the guide.