Thank You Spectrum for Living!

The NJSEA sends a huge thank you to Spectrum for Living residents who created beautiful, ornate bird boxes for the agency. Their creativity and hard work stands out in the colorful, intricate designs. The boxes come courtesy of several Spectrum for Living locations.

Awards were given to each bird box – from left to right: Most Intricate, Most Innovative, Most Musical, Most Holiday Oriented and Most Practical.

Thank you once again Spectrum for Living for your incredible work!

Don Torino’s Life in the Meadowlands: Earth Day Is Still a Great Idea!

I can remember sitting in church as a child on Easter morning. It was a packed house as I guess every Easter is. We were all shoulder-to-shoulder and I had to squeeze my legs together so that everyone would fit in the long, hard, wooden pews.

I distinctly can recall Father O’Neill making his grand entrance with all of his beautiful Easter vestments looking out at his full house and all those smiling holiday faces. He told everyone how it filled his heart with joy to see so many people in church that spring morning. However, as the church organ played many of those faces lost their Easter grins when he said, “I HOPE TO SEE ALL OFYOU HERE EVERY SUNDAY JUST LIKE THIS.”

So in Memory of Father O’Neill, I hope after all the celebrating, events and feeling good about ourselves this Earth Day that we can all step up and do the right thing to protect our environment every day of the year, especially right here in our own communities.

Like all environmental groups around Earth Day, we become the most popular people in town. We are wanted everywhere and anywhere. It seems every town has an Earth Day fair, an Earth Day clean up, an Earth Day tree planting. You name it and you will find something happening on and around April 22.

Now don’t get me wrong. All these events are wonderful and help bring much needed awareness to our threatened environment. But at times I do detect the more than occasional hypocrisy at some of the town run, pat ourselves on the back love our environment today and let’s forget about it tomorrow Earth day celebrations .

 It amazes me how on one hand  a town is cutting down trees, destroying wildlife habitat by developing every inch of any natural area that might be left, and just down the road the powers that be are shaking hands, posing with solar panels in the background, and professing to be friends of the earth at the local Earth Day Fest. It is a magician’s sleight of hand if there ever was one. Don’t look over there! Nothing up my sleeve.

 Then as April 23 rolls around its back to the pesticides, insecticides, cutting trees, planting invasive plants, caring for a vast wasteland of green lawns and ignoring that there is even such a thing as climate change. Earth Day was and is a great concept. We should try it more often.

 Moreover, to add insult to injury it seems when we were not watching the store corporate America hijacked Earth Day. As I am writing this article, I am being bombarded with emails that say buy this and buy that earth friendly item and you will save the earth! Enough! The founders of Earth Day are turning over in their graves and the ones that are still alive are ready to jump in with them.

So this April 22 let’s take Earth Day back and remember how it started, by regular people like you and me. We should be standing up for the environment any way we can and let it start in your own community. Attend to all your local events and talk it up to everyone on how we should protect wildlife habitat not only in the South American rainforest but also in our own towns, and before the bulldozers start to roll.

Let us plant native plants in our yards and in your community. Put up some birdhouses, be more tolerant of backyard wildlife, and give groundhogs and squirrels a break!  Take a walk at a local nature center and do what you can all year long. We know we can talk the talk. Now let’s all walk the walk and together help make our environment a better place for future generations!

See you in the Meadowlands!

Don

Earth Day Walk and Marsh Discovey Trail Reopening Event Is This Friday, April 21!

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority along with the Bergen County Audubon Society welcome you to a special Earth Day Nature Walk and Marsh Discovery Trail Reopening Celebration. The event takes place Friday, April 21, at 10 a.m. The walk will be preceded by a trail reopening including remarks from NJSEA staff and members of Bergen Audubon. These include a brief history of the trail and its critical significance to the Meadowlands wildlife and eco-system. Light refreshments will be provided. Keep your eyes peeled on the walk for Tree Swallows and other resident birds.

Meet outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.

For more information, contact Brian Aberback at baberback@njsea.com or 201-460-4619

Marsh Discovery Trail Is Fully Open!

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority is pleased to announce the reopening of the Marsh Discovery Trail as a full boardwalk loop, starting Saturday, April 15. We are thrilled and dedicated to providing our valuable park visitors with a great experience. The announcement comes at a perfect time as the weather becomes warmer and the days get longer.

The Marsh Discovery Trail provides an up-close vantage point for visitors to observe and photograph the Meadowlands abundant wildlife and stunning natural beauty, and to gain valuable and inspiring first-hand knowledge about the region’s unique urban eco-system.

The walkway is an especially great spot for bird watching given its habitat for breathtaking nesting and migratory birds. The amazing wildlife and landscape photographs so gracefully captured by Trail users constantly amaze us. The Marsh Discovery Trail also provides visitors and families an educational benefit and rejuvenating sense of peace and tranquility.

The half-mile Trail opened in 1991 and has long been DeKorte Park’s most popular walkway. Framed by the New York City skyline, the Marsh Discovery Trail extends over the park’s tidal impoundment, known as the Shorebird Pool, and includes study docks, shaded and open classrooms, and seating areas.

Please note that the Trail will be closed on certain, upcoming days as staff put the finishing touches on improvements. We will provide updates on meadowblog.net and njsea.com in advance. 

The Marsh Discovery Trail is located in DeKorte Park, 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst.

See you on the Trail!

Kearny Marsh Conservation Project Gearing Up

The Bergen County Audubon Society this week provided the NJSEA with decoys and nesting shelters that were created by volunteers and will be placed on a floating island in the Kearny Freshwater Marsh as part of an innovative conservation project. The initiative, created by the NJSEA’s Meadowlands Research and Restoration Institute (MRRI), seeks to encourage local endangered species such as Least Terns and Black Skimmers to nest on an artificial island.

The decoys provided by the volunteers will help to lure in Least Turns and other endangered colonial nesting waterbirds. The nesting shelters will provide protection from predators and fledgling Least Terns. MRRI will also be installing a sound box to assist in attracting Black Skimmers, and remote cameras that will stream live video to MRRI’s scientists and to the public through MRRI’s website, meadowlandsrri.com.  

The NJSEA extends a hearty thank you to the Maywood Boy Scouts and Fair Lawn High School wood shop students who constructed the nesting shelters and decoys.

Save the Date: Native Plant Day is Sunday, May 21, at DeKorte Park!

We’re looking forward to Native Plant Day on Sunday, May 21, at DeKorte Park. The family-friendly program runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the Bergen County Audubon Society.

Visitors will explore the significant importance of native plants to parks and natural areas through guided walks led by BCAS and NJSEA experts throughout the day. Local organizations will have information booths to provide the public with educational materials. Local species serve as food sources for many Meadowlands pollinators such as bees and butterflies. In addition, Monarch Butterflies will only lay eggs on milkweed, a native plant that is abundant in DeKorte Park. As the Monarch Butterfly is in decline, the existence of native plants is critically important to their survival.

There will also be a presentation on creating a certified wildlife garden in your own backyard. Creating a native plant habitat at home allows individuals to do their part in supporting birds and wildlife while fostering a healthy landscape.

Reminder: BCAS Nature Walk Wednesday, April 12, at Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry

Enjoy a guided walk with the Bergen County Audubon Society through Losen Slote Creek Park in Little Ferry, one of the Meadowlands last remaining low-lying forested areas. Wear boots – the park can be muddy and the terrain a bit tough. The walk runs from 10 a.m. to noon. We’ll meet in the parking lot adjacent to Mehrhof Pond on Mehrhof Road.

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