We had a great autumn walk at Losen Slote Park in Little Ferry yesterday morning -- and carted out a dozen bags of trash in the process. Also had nice looks at a lot of nifty birds and fungi.
Full list of birds is below.
A big thanks to the 12 participants, and to Denise Farrell of Bergen County Audubon Society for compiling the list.
Continue reading "Yesterday's Losen Slote Walk: The Full List" »
Andrew Burmeister, one of the NJMC's volunteer bird-banders, got this sunrise shot on Wednesday. (Thanks, Andrew!)
NJMC Naturalist Brett Bragin took this shot of a jet's contrails and a waxing crescent Moon last week.
More on the Moon's phases here.
Today is the first day of summer.
We took this Friday afternoon in DeKorte Park.
The William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park has a full schedule for May, including several free public observation nights, a month-long Tuesday-night astronomy course, and a special program on how NASA technology has been applied to everyday life.
Public Viewing Schedule
Observe the skies through the 20-inch diameter telescope of the William D. McDowell Observatory each Monday and Wednesday evening. Because of the later sunsets, the viewing hours will begin at 9 pm.
Each free session focuses on two major objects on the night sky, plus one or two other celestial objects or events depending on the observing conditions.
Observing is weather dependent and will be canceled for that night if the skies are cloudy at the beginning of the observing session.
Click "Continue reading ..." to view entire May observatory schedule.
Photo by JJ Rusher/NJMC
If you haven't been to the McDowell Observatory yet, the view above is just a sample of what you've been missing.
The observatory, in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, is open to the public Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 10 p.m.
Note: Observing is weather dependent and will be canceled for the night if the skies are cloudy or if there’s any type of precipitation.
Click here for more posts and information on the observatory.
Click "Continue reading..." to see next week's schedule and highlights.
In case you missed it last night, Venus, Jupiter and a crescent Moon will appear to be bunched together in the night sky tonight after dusk.
Look to the southwest an hour after sunset.
John Sloan of NJMC's McDowell Observatory at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst says that Venus and Jupiter should also be visible on Wednesday night when the observatory opens to the public at 7 p.m. -- but that they
will be getting low in the sky.
More on this astronomical event here.
Starting next
Monday (Sept.8), the William D. McDowell Observatory in DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst,
The viewings are free.
The observatory will be open for two hours each
night, with 8 and 9 p.m. viewing sessions.
Click
“Continue reading…” below for more info.
This week the Meadowlands Environment Center is holding a space camp for students entering the seventh grade.
Tuesday's session was about the sun, stars and planets, and students went outside to learn about the sun in whole new ways (see 1:45-minute video). 
MEC's Laura Venner talked to the 15 students abot the sun and SOHO, an international project involving NASA and other space agencies to study the sun.
The
space camp, one of a half-dozen offered by MEC
All MEC camps are
held at the new Center for Environmental and Scientific Education (below), a “green”
building that incorporates sustainable materials and alternative energy, in DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst.
Click "Continue reading..." for two more images.
Summer kicks off today with the summer solstice.
Don't forget the Meadowlands Environment Center's program on the summer solstice on Saturday. More info here.
