The William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park begins a new month of programming tonight (Monday, Dec. 3).

Free public access is from 7 to 10 on Monday and Wednesday nights  this month — weather permitting, of course.

Dress for the weather; with the dome open, you are basically outside.

Each evening at least two major objects in the night sky will be viewed, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.

For more information about free public viewing nights and to check out the observatory's website, click here.

For a South Bergenite column by the NJMC's Jim Wright about the observatory, click here.

Lots of volunteers descended on DeKorte Park this morning and did an awesome cleanup.  A few of the awesome volunteers are pictured above.

Next time we'll have stand behind all the bags of trash they collected.

Details and pics tomorrow!  (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Just a word of caution for folks who are coming to DeKorte Park for the cleanup on Sunday (from 10 a.m. to noon).

The park suffered quite a bit of damage, so if you are seeing DeKorte for the first time post-Sandy, brace yourself. Some visitors have found it upsetting.

You'll see pieces of boardwalk missing, plus other damage both major and minor. You'll see parts of boardwalk moved several hundred yards to the next tidal impoundment.  You'll see lots of litter.

And you'll be part of the recovery efforts. Thank you.

(Scroll down for other posts on Sunday's cleanup and bird walk.)

Jim Wright, who maintains this blog, is speaking about his new book for the NJMC, "The Nature of the Meadowlands," at Wild Birds Unlimited in Paramus tomorrow (Saturday) from 11 a.m. to noon.

Jim and Governor Tom Kean, who wrote the book's foreword, will be signing copies at Bookends in Ridgewood from 1 to 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

Sean Sullivan wrote an in-depth story about the book, posted on the nj.com website today. The link is here.

Disposal Road action has seemed a bit slow of late, but Ron Shields did get this Bald Eagle shot recently. We have a walk along the road on Sunday. Scroll down for details. (Thanks, Ron!)

Rose Duger of The Jersey Journal has a story in yesterday's editions about the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on the Kearny Marsh. (Above is a photo of the bench at the entrance to the marsh at Gunnell Oval — that entrance is now totally blocked by uprooted Phragmites.

The link is here.

Jaimie Julia Winters of The South Bergenite wrote an article on the  cleanup and reopening of Mill Creek Marsh, with an update on other NJMC sites. (Photo above is post-cleanup on Sunday.)

Will post links to articles on Harrier Meadow cleanup and Kearny Marsh later today.

The link is here.

Dennis Cheeseman passed along these recent photos of an American Kestrel mixing it up with a Red-tailed Hawk along Disposal Road. (Thanks, Dennis!)

Two more pix in the sequence follow.

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