Let freedom ring.
AMVETS Carillon, North Arlington, earlier this week.
New Meadowlands Oral History Blog
The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) is bringing the rich and colorful history of this region to life through its newly launched Oral History Blog, www.meadowpast.net.
The blog, featuring recollections of longtime Meadowlands residents, is part of the NJMC’s 40th Anniversary Celebration.
Click "Continue reading…" for more about the new blog.
Don’t forget: DeKorte Walk on Sunday
Just a reminder that the first free DeKorte Nature Walk of the summer is Sunday at 9 a.m. We meet at the butterfly garden in front of the Meadowlands Environment Center. (First building on your left as you enter DeKorte Park.)
The walk is sponsored by the Meadowlands Commission and Bergen County Audubon. Bring binoculars, sunscreen and bug spray.
Please rsvp with Jim Wright here.
Click "Continue reading… " for upcoming NJMC/BCAS events.
Harbor Herons Project: Banding Update
Kate Ruskin of the N.J. Audubon Society reports:
This year, we banded Great Egrets on South Brother Island (Bronx) and Hoffman Island (Staten Island); Glossy Ibises on Hoffman and Canarsie Pol (Jamaica Bay in Queens); and Double-crested Cormorants on Swinburne Island (Staten Island).
We tagged about 40 Great Egrets with both color bands and radio transmitters for some of the biggest fledglings, and about 20 Glossy Ibises with color bands.
We color-banded about 200 cormorants in just 2 (exhausting) days, a new record for us. Finally, we put just metal USFWS bands on about 40 Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.
I'll give you the final numbers soon once we go through all the data, but here are some pictures in the meantime:
Here's NYCA's Liz Craig with one of this year's radio-tagged GREGs. The transmitters have an alphanumeric code on them, black letters/numbers on a white "band". About 10 of the 40 tagged GREGs have radio transmitters, plus (hopefully!) you'll see some of the 17 radio-tagged GREGs from last year.
Click here for earlier posts on the Harbor Heron Project.
Click "Continue reading…" for the rest of Kate's report. Thanks, Kate!
FLYWAY GALLERY: July exhibit opens July 2
The evocative work of digital media artist Maria M. Walker will be on display during July at the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s (NJMC) Flyway Gallery.
The show, “Delirium,” runs from Thursday, July 2 through Thursday, July 30. A reception for the artist is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 19.
Click "Continue reading …" for more information and more images.
OBSERVATORY: July Schedule
Wednesday begins a new month of free public viewing nights on Mondays and Wednesdays at 9 p.m. at the William D. McDowell Observatory.
Click here for more information.
TUESDAY TEASER 063009
And now for something completely different: This is our first Tuesday Teaser featuring the back of a bird's head.
Somehow, we think you'll be able to figure it out.
For the hard-of-thinking, here is a profile view.
Click here for more Tuesday Teasers.
Click here for more on this alleged mystery bird.
Bird Reports: June 2009
Tuesday, June 30: Don Torino reports that "I was out doing a Late day heron Survey at Skeetkill Creek Marsh in Ridgefield on Sunday night, ands around 7:30 I had two beautiful Black Skimmers working the Marsh, it seemed in unison. Skimming the water flying just a few feet apart. Pretty cool!"
Monday, June 29: We found the Black-necked Stilt just before 1 p.m. near the beginning of DeKorte Park's Saw Mill Creek Trail, by the Carillon on Disposal Road, North Arlington. The bird with the bubble-gum pink legs was 50 yards in,
on the left. Photo is from today.
Continuing: Four Forster's Terns on the railing heading out to the Vistor's Center in the Meadowlands Environment Center in DeKorte Park.
Click "Continue reading…" for other June reports.
Peregrines thriving on Meadowlands bridges
Jim O'Neill, the environmental writer for The Record, had a neat story over the weekend about the growing presence of Peregrine Falcons on bridges along the Hackensack River as far north as Little Ferry.
The story, picked up by The Associated Press, Star Ledger and Philadelphia Inquirer, was also mentioned on NPR. Link is here.
Recently, we took the photo above of a Peregrine Falcon youngster (right) ready to fledge under the Route 3 bridge.
We believe this is the first successful fledging of a Peregrine Falcon in the Meadowlands north of Jersey City.
New Improved DeKorte Guide is Here!
DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst has it all: 3.5 miles of trails, great birding year-round, an environmental center, an observatory and a state-of-the-art science center.
And now it has a new pamphlet with trail map to make this 110-acre park more accessible and enjoyable.
To pick up your copy, just stop by the front desk at the Meadowlands Environment Center.
New features include: Mileage for each major trail segment, so you can calculate how far you've walked.
More-detailed names for the various tidal impoundments, so you locate rare birds more easily.
The pamphlet has also been updated to include information on the William D. McDowell Observatory and the Center for Environmental and Scientic Education.