The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) is pleased to announce that it will host its Fourth Annual Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park on Sunday, July 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The highly popular, family-friendly event includes butterfly walks and talks, a scavenger hunt and butterfly costume contest for kids, and information tables.

Last year nearly 700 people attended Butterfly Day.

The Butterfly Day schedule includes frequent butterfly walks and an hourly slide show and talk on the butterflies of DeKorte Park. A native plant walk is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. There are also Day-long scavenger hunts for children.

This year the Commission has added a Butterfly Costume contest, inspired by the many children who have attended past events dressed in butterfly regalia.

The costume contest is at 1 p.m. and is for ages 12and under, with prizes awarded to the top three winners. In addition, there will be several raffle drawings for great prizes including tickets to NJMC Pontoon Boat Cruises on the Hackensack River.

Butterflies commonly seen in DeKorte Park at this time of year include Black Swallowtails, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Pearl Crescents.

The centerpiece of Butterfly Day is Jill’s Garden. Located just outside the Meadowlands Environment Center, the garden features cone flowers, butterfly bushes and butterfly weed to attract butterflies.

Jill’s Garden was built to honor the memory of Rutherford native Jill Ann Ziemkiewicz, the youngest member of the flight crew assigned to TWA flight 800, which fell into the ocean off Long Island on July 17, 1996.

Adjutant Wainscot 

Denise Farrell of the Bergen County Audubon Society took several nifty moth pix last night, with IDs. Two more follow. (Thanks, Denise!) Continue reading →

A big thank you to everyone who participated in our second annual Moth Night last night, brought to you by the folks who created National Moth Week and sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission  and Bergen County Audubon Society.

The consensus of attendees — and we estimate we had 75 participants of all ages — was that it was a fun and educational event despite the persnickety weather. We will post more pix as time allows — including several taken and ID’d by Denise Farrell of the BCAS.

In honor of Butterfly Day this Saturday at DeKorte Park,  here’s a little butterfly that wants your ID.

Photo by Patrick Carney — too bad he couldn’t get the eye bigger.  :- )   (Thanks, Patrick!)

We have a talk and slide show at 8:30 p.m. by the National Moth Week folks in the Meadowlands Environment Center.

We are hoping that the predicted thunder showers pass through by the time the presentation is over, or shortly thereafter. Moth Night goes until approx. 11 p.m.

You can call Jim Wright’s cellphone at 201-469-7349 after 8:00 for a DeKorte weather report…

Thanks for bearing with us.

We have been getting some scattered rain here at DeKorte Park, but at present the weather calls for the precipitation to end by 9 p.m.

Since the event begins with a talk and slide show in the Meadowlands Environment Center Auditorium at 8:30 p.m., we hope to go ahead with the event as scheduled.

We will make a final determination at 5:15 p.m.

One of our favorite events of the year is Moth Night at DeKorte Park — brought to you by the masterminds behind National Moth Week and sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon Society.  And it’s tonight!

The folks at National Moth Week will be bringing their bright lights, moth cloths and moth bait to DeKorte Park from 8:30 to 11 p.m. As we did last year, we expect to see some pretty cool moths — and learn about these amazing, misunderstood, nocturnal creatures.

Link to a recent South Bergenite column on Moth Night is here.

National Moth Week’s Facebook page is here.

More information follows. Continue reading →

Ron Shields writes:

“There’s been a black-crowned night heron-palooza every evening for the past week or so in the cul de sac between the Transco Trail and the Lyndhurst Nature Reserve.

“Upwards to a half-dozen adults/juveniles have been allowing extremely close looks.”

(Thanks, Ron!)  One more pic follows. Continue reading →

Just read on eBird that Ray Duffy had a White-rumped Sandpiper yesterday at DeKorte Park around 3:50 p.m.  Sorry, but no details…

Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute Executive Director Francisco Artigas reports:

Attached are photos from Thursday at low tide showing the new establishment of Spartina alterniflora on the Saw Mill Creek WMA mudflat.

This mudflat has been without vegetation since I have known it (1997). It seems that Sandy changed the elevation, which is allowing a healthy establishment of Spartina.

We hope to measure past and current LiDAR to determine exactly the magnitude of the elevation change in this area.  (Thanks, Francisco!)