Roy Woodford writes:

“It took me a few seconds to figure out why this little butterfly was suddenly sitting so still for the camera.”

Answer follows. (Thanks, Roy!) Continue reading →

Have seen Peck’s Skippers in Jill’s Garden at DeKorte many times this week.

Nature photographer and author Kevin Karlson will be joining us for his fifth annual Shorebird Day at DeKorte. It’s Saturday, Aug. 10, from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and it’s free!

Highlights include two bird walks ion the morning, a bird ID seminar, a preview of Kevin’s latest projects, and a photography workshop with Kevin and fellow ace nature photographer Lloyd Spitalnik.

This event is sponsored by the N.J. Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society. Bring your own water, sunblock and lunch.

Schedule and rsvp info follow. Continue reading →

Freya Anthony, then 3½ years old, was one of the delightful surprises of our first Butterfly Day in 2010.

Jim Wright, who maintains this blog, also writes a twice-monthly column for the South Bergenite. His latest is on this Sunday’s Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park:

It all began nearly five years ago, almost as an after-thought. Don Torino, the president of Bergen County Audubon Society, and I were discussing his group’s new collaboration with the Meadowlands Commission.

Wouldn’t it be fun, we decided, if the two groups sponsored a free butterfly walk at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, the home of the NJMC?

More than 70 people participated in that first walk, and Butterfly Day was born the following July, in 2010. Continue reading →

If you are interested in joining Bergen County Audubon Society and the Meadowlands Commission for a two-hour “birding by boat” pontoon-boat cruise tomorrow, contact us asap.

Click here for details.

Boat skipper Angelo Urato reports that this morning “we spotted eight ospreys on and around the Boonton Line Swing Bridge.  No activity at the the Main line draw bridge.” (Angelo also supplied the photo above: thanks, Angelo!)

The Hudson Reporter has a nifty article this week about Butterfly Day, complete with slide show.

Here’s the beginning:

Different sizes. A multitude of shapes. And, of course, an unlimited palette of colors. All these traits will be visible in the insects that have a starring role at Butterfly Day, hosted by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) on Sunday, July 28.

“[It’s] a festival dedicated to the beauty of butterflies,” said commission spokesman Brian Aberback. “It’s our signature event.”

The link is here.

Rob Fanning reports:

Had at 3 or 4 Least Terns fly by and one of them hung around to fish for a while at DeKorte [this morning].  Also had flyover Harrier (which flushed the flock of yellowlegs and dows), heard Blue Grosbeak at Disposal Road, and had a Pheasant fly across the road and over me while driving on Valley Brook!  (Thanks, Rob!)

Regina Geoghan photographed this Gray Hairsteak at DeKorte Park over the weekend — the first one reported here this year. Let’s hope we see one on Sunday’s Butterfly Day. (Thanks, Regina!)

Don Torino’s latest column for wildnewjersey.tv is about The Meadowlands, butterflies, and an amazing environmental recovery.

Here’s a sample:

“Everyone everywhere who loves and appreciates nature has been in awe of the return of the New Jersey Meadowlands. From a place that was the butt of bad jokes to an urban wilderness paradise where Osprey, Peregrine Falcons, and Bald Eagles flourish.

“Just as the return of the many wonderful bird species to the Meadowlands has signified a return to a more healthy bio diverse environment, so to do the butterflies of the Meadowlands indicate a vigorous and vital habitat resurgence like never seen before in New Jersey…

“Having grown up in the Meadowlands, I have witnessed firsthand the some of the worst tragedies that could be bestowed upon the environment. But now still living in the Meadowlands, I have also seen firsthand the amazing things that can be accomplished when people care enough and work hard to do what sometimes seems the most difficult of things to do – the right thing. Butterfly Day is testament to doing the right thing.”

The link is here. (Thanks, Don, and thanks to Sandy Sorkin for the new photo of the Eastern Tailed-blue!)

Isabella Tiger Moth

Here are more pix from Moth Night, including the pic above of an Isabella Tiger Moth (which once was a Wooly Bear Caterpillar).

The event included a talk and slide show by Elena Tartaglia of National Moth Week, some moth baiting on trees outside DeKorte Park’s Meadowlands Environment Center, and three moth collection sheets — two Mercury Vapor Lamps and one black light.

One of the fun aspects of events like this is the other cool bugs you see while looking for moths. These included a fresh cicada exoskeleton, a native Stinkbug, and a nifty spider.

Next up: Butterfly Day this Sunday, DeKorte Park, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free and family-friendly.

Pix of a Prominent moth and more shots from Moth Night follow. Continue reading →