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Don't
forget: The Meadowlands Commission and the Bergen County Audubon Society
are sponsoring a free nature walk at Harrier Meadow in
The walk is rain or shine. Lightning cancels.
As always,
bug spray, binoculars and sunscreen are a good idea…
Because Harrier Meadow is ordinarily closed to the public, you
will need to sign a standard release to visit the site. Download it here or sign a release on Sunday:
Click "Continue reading ... " for directions.
Local landscapes
and landmarks as captured by painter Melissa Maiorano will line the walls of the
New Jersey Meadowlands Commission’s (NJMC) Flyway Gallery during August.
The exhibit, “Treasures in the Marsh: Paintings by Melissa Maiorano,” runs from Sunday, Aug. 2 through Sunday, Aug. 30. A reception for the artist is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m., on Aug. 2.
Click "Continue reading...." for more information and more paintings.
Kearny Marsh is looking pretty awesome these days. This is probably the best place in the entire disrict to see Hibiscus, which seem to be peaking.
We took a kayak into the marsh on Wednesday morning and got great looks at a Least Bittern (flying), Blck-crowned Night Heron (perched and flying), a Great Blue Heron (flying) and the Great Egret at right.
Best place to launch your kayak is at the norh end of Gunnell Oval.
The sixth annual Meadowlands Festival of Birding will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept.13. This nifty event features pontoon-boat tours of the Hackensack River, bird walks and great Sunday field trips.
Once again, NJMC Naturalist Mike Newhouse will give an illuminating bird-banding demonstration at Harrier Meadow on Saturday morning.
The event is organized and sponsored by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, the Hackensack River keeper, and the New Jersey Audubon Society. Riverkeeper link, with more on the festival, is here.
To download the Birdfest 2009 brochure, which includes all the essential info, click below:
Download Bird Fest 09 brochure
The improving butterfly season continues at DeKorte Park.
Yesterday at DeKorte's butterfly plantings we saw Monarchs, Viceroys (above), Red Admirals, Eastern Swallowtails, Black Eastern Swallowtails, Summer Azures, Wild Indigo Duskywings, Silver-Spotted Skippers, assorted other skippers, and Cabbage Whites.
Yesterday in The Record, Environmental Writer Jim O'Neill wrote about this being a tough year for butterflies in North Jersey. (Link is here.)
At DeKorte at least, things have really been picking up in the last two weeks.
A huge expanse of wetlands along the western spur of the NJ Turnpike was once slated for development for a mega-mall, the Meadowlands Mills project.
Instead, it was preserved as open space -- the Richard P. Kane Natural Area. Now, the square mile of marsh -- covered mostly by the invasive reed Phragmites -- is slated for an extreme makeover.
To read the front-page story in The Record today by Staff Writer Jim O'Neill, click here.
To see The Record video by Staff Videographer Tom Franklin on the wetlands project, click here.
To hear an interview with Richard P. Kane, check out the Meadowlands Oral History Project blog. The link is here.
