Wednesday, June 17, 3 – 4:30 pm
Meadowlands Environment Center
Join Bill Streeter, Director of the Delaware Valley Raptor Center, and several of his raptor friends, including falcons, a Golden Eagle and other amazing creatures from the Meadowlands region. Streeter will draw on his 30 years of experience studying and rehabilitating raptors to entertain and educate attendees. Register here.
FREE. Wednesday, June 10, 1 – 2:30 pm
Meadowlands Environment Center
Landscape architect Katy Weidel recounts stories of the Meadowlands of the early 20th century. Learn about battleships, barges and seaplanes. Hear about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), through which young men were recruited to help conserve and develop natural resources.
Register here.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015, noon, adults
Build a Better Butterfly Garden
Meadowlands Environment Center
Grab your lunch and join Don Torino of the Bergen County Audubon Society who will show you how to turn your backyard into a butterfly haven. You’ll also learn how you can help the beautiful Monarch butterfly, whose numbers have declined precipitously in recent years. $6/person; $5 MEC members. Please register here.
Sunday April 12, 1 to 3 p.m. Free!
Birding for Beginners: Bird Identification
All ages, Meadowlands Environment Center
This free two-hour Birding for Beginners class starts with a short session on basic bird identification at the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, followed by a nature walk in the park. The event is run by the Bergen County Audubon Society and hosted by the NJ Meadowlands Commission. You will have to sign a standard liability release that is good for NJMC/BCAS events throughout the year. To register, contact Marie Longo at 551-580-2372 or longo.mariee@ymail.com
Sunday, April 5, 10 – noon
First Sunday Nature Walk
DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst
Enjoy early April out of doors by joining us on this free two-hour guided nature walk in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. We’ll walk around parts of the park, looking for spring arrivals, bald eagles and other birds. The walk starts in the MEC parking lot and is hosted by the NJMC and the Bergen County Audubon Society. You will have to sign a standard liability release that is good for all NJMC/BCAS events throughout the year. To register, contact Don Torino of the BCAS at call or 201-230-4983.
The Art Safari: An Interactive Exploration of the World Around Us
Teens and adults Meadowlands Environment Center
Saturdays, April 18, April 25 and May 2 from 2 to 4 pm
Participants will learn how to use the traditional mediums of graphite and charcoal in an interactive way. We will explore the positive and negative space around your subject matter. Each person will walk away with a finished piece that will inspire your taste for art. No experience necessary. Supplies are included in the cost of the class. $35/person; $30 MEC members (includes all 3 sessions).
Pre-registration is required. Register here.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the walk scheduled for this Monday, March 23, at Laurel Hill Park, is cancelled.
Photo by Chris Takacs
There were glimpses of spring on our Tuesday walk, despite the recent return of winter temperatures. Krysti Sabins, who maintains a website called Unboring Exploring, shared a few shots she took that day. Many thanks to her. Visit her website here.
I got this note today and figured I ought to share it:
“Just as a heads up, I heard American Woodcocks calling at Laurel Hill on Monday evening starting around 725pm. There were several birds calling. A good spot to hear them is the first lot on the left, across the road from the boat launch and next to the cricket pitch in the park. The small wooded patch between the lot and the fenced in lot for Field Station Dinosaur is usually pretty reliable for at least one bird. Since there is a number of street lamps there, you can sometimes see the woodcocks as they’re either going up or coming down from their display flights. I’m not sure if the winds are going to keep them down for the next few days, but it’s usually pretty reliable to at least hear them calling.” – Ray Duffy
People may have been discouraged by the rain falling this morning, but by 10:00 it was all over. A small group (7) of participants paused at the beginning of the Transco Trail, then continued across Lyndhurst Nature Reserve toward the Saw Mill Creek Trail where there was plenty of open water and waterfowl.
Horned Grebes caught on camera by Chris Takacs.
Horned Grebes generated the most excitement – two males and a female were seen diving repeatedly. Five Red-breasted Mergansers were nearby, as were some Common Mergansers, two Lesser Scaup, a Bufflehead, and a pair of snoozing Canvasbacks.
We watched two Northern Harriers chase each other above the Erie Landfill and two Red-tailed Hawks hunting on Kingsland. A group of Fish Crows passed by the power lines on their way south. And a Great Blue Heron took a long slow route overhead. There was a Black Back Gull (the largest gull in the world, at the top of the food chain) among a mixed group of gulls. We even saw a couple of Tree Swallows out there.
Two groups of Canvasbacks (about 20 in all) flew towards the Impoundment, as a group of about 30 Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls stood on the diminishing ice below. Circling Lyndhurst Nature Reserve, we saw American Black Ducks and Mallards on the shore and a Fox Sparrow in the Beach Plum.
We finished with a stroll along the Kingsland Overlook trail. We heard and saw Dark-eyed Juncos, a Carolina Wren, American Robins, Red-wing Blackbirds, a few more Fox Sparrows, and a White-throated Sparrow.
Many thanks to BCAS’s Don Torino and to Chris Takacs for sharing their wealth of experience.