Mark Your Calendar: Meadowlands Birding Festival Is Sunday, Oct. 1, at DeKorte Park!

This year’s Meadowlands Birding Festival promises an engaging, fun and educational day of bird walks and presentations, a live raptor show, children’s activities, music, information tables and more as we explore the Meadowlands amazing avian species throughout DeKorte Park.

The event runs from 8:30 am to 3 pm and is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Bergen County Audubon Society.

Kid’s can make an ice cream cone bird feeder, learn about migration and play the bird migration game, learn about different types of bird beaks and visit the binocular making station. 

We’re very excited to present Keynote Speaker Dr. Jill Deppe of the National Audubon Society. Read more about Dr. Deppe, Senior Director, Migratory Bird Initiative, here

We look forward to seeing you on Oct. 1.

The Meadowlands Environment Center is located at 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

Contacts:

Bergen County Audubon Society: Don Torino, greatauk4@gmail.com or 201-230-4983.

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority: Brian Aberback, baberback@njsea.com or 201-460-4619

Reminder: BCAS Mill Creek Marsh Walk This Sunday (Aug. 6)!

Semi-palmated Sandpipers

Be on the lookout for wading birds, migrant shorebirds and songbirds on this walk led by the Bergen County Audubon Society. The walk runs from 9 am to 11 am. Park behind Bob’s Furniture store on Mill Creek Drive. The trail entrance is located off the back of the lot.

Contact: Don Torino (201) 230-4983 or greatauk4@gmail.com

Wonderful article on Celery Farm Creator Stiles Thomas on northjersey.com

There is a wonderful story on northjersey.com on Stiles Thomas, co-creator of the treasured Celery Farm Nature Preserve in Allendale. Thomas, who served as Marsh Warden for 26years, died in May at age 99.

As noted in the story, “In 1981, Thomas collaborated with then-Mayor Edward Fitzpatrick to create what was then the nation’s first municipally owned wetlands, a 60-acre former celery farm gradually enlarged to what is now a 107-acre preserve. Thomas then served 26 years as the borough’s first marsh warden.

“In the 1950s he was known as the “Blue Bird Man” for building and installing hundreds of birdhouses to repopulate western New Jersey with bluebirds, decimated by the pesticide DDT. He started the first hawk watch at Mount Peter, New York, in 1957. He supervised the watch for migrating hawks at State Line Lookout in Alpine, and led birding trips to Belize in the Caribbean for 20 years.”

Read the story here

Access the Celery Farm blog here

National Audubon’s Dr. Jill Deppe Announced As Keynote Speaker at Meadowlands Birding Festival On Sunday, Oct. 1.

Dr. Jill Deppe, the National Audubon Society’s Senior Director, Mirgratory Bird Initiative, will be the Keynote Speaker at this year’s Meadowlands Birding Festival, which will be held on Sunday, Oct. 1, from 8:30 am to 3 pm at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.

In 2018, Dr. Jill Deppe joined the National Audubon Society to launch its Migratory Bird Initiative. As its Senior Director, Jill leads efforts to synthesize spatial science from across the Western Hemisphere and full annual cycle, with an emphasis on the migratory period. The Initiative’s mission: use science to shape conservation actions at scale, engage bird enthusiasts and mobilize them to promote the safety of birds in their communities, and support bird- and environment-friendly public policy.

For more on Dr. Jill Deppe, click here

The annual Meadowlands Birding Festival is co-hosted by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Bergen County Audubon Society. The day includes guided bird walks, talks, children’s activities, a live raptor show and music. A full schedule will be posted soon.

Improvements to the Shorewalk Trail and Kingsland Overlook At DeKorte Park

Please note: The NJSEA will be conducting improvements to the Kingsland Overlook and the Shorewalk Trail at DeKorte Park.  While under construction, the Kingsland Overlook Trail and the Shorewalk trail will be temporarily closed and parking at the Environment Center parking lot will be reduced.  Access to the park will remain open but it is expected that circulation may be disrupted while some components of the construction are taking place.  We apologize for any inconvenience and are asking for everyone’s cooperation and patience as this project moves forward.