HARRIER MEADOW, North Arlington Directions take you to the parking area on Disposal Road, accessible from Schuyler Avenue in North Arlington and Valley Brook Avenue in Lyndhurst (by DeKorte Park).
RIVER BARGE PARK & MARINA, Carlstadt Directions take you to Outwater Lane in Carlstadt. Follow Outwater Lane to end for the River Barge Park & Marina.
SCHMIDT'S WOODS, Secaucus Entrance to Schmidt's Woods is roughly 100 yards to the west on Millridge Road.
SKEETKILL CREEK MARSH, Ridgefield After turning onto Pleasant View Terrace West, go about 100 yards, and marsh entrance will be on your left.
MONK PARAKEETS, Ridgefield When you reach Railroad Avenue, head south under Hendricks Causeway Bridge. Park car near the bridge and listen; Monk Parakeets live in nests on underside of the bridge.
KEARNY FRESH-WATER MARSH, Kearny Camman Drive is the road the loops around Gunnell Oval; the marsh is to the east of the easternmost corner of the drive. You can launch kayaks and canoes at this location.
When we were kayaking in the Kearny marsh last week, we saw many great examples of nature on the rebound.
Now that the Meadowlands Commission has spent tens of millions of dollarsto overhaul the old Keegan Landfill, leachate no longer seeps into the marsh, and catch-and-release fishing is thriving.
The fish are not safe to eat yet, but they are another indication that the marsh --and the Meadowlands are coming back strong.
We watched as the gentleman who caught this fish gently released it back into the marsh.
We also saw another angler broke his reel when he tried to catch one of these big boys -- the old "one that got away."
Every once in a while you run across a strange encounter -- like this battle between a Double-crested Cormorant and an eel at Mill Creek Point on the hackensack River last week. At first, it looked like the cormorant had things under control. Then the eel wrapped itself around the cormorant's neck. Click "Continue reading..." below the picture to see the entire sequence.
We are thinking that this flying fish must have been taking a swim when it was snagged by an enterprising Osprey.
The pair were photographed over the Saw Mill Creek Trail in North Arlington. BTW, an NJMC naturalist said the fish in question is likely a weakfish. (And getting weaker by the minute.)
Click here for a couple more shots of the Osprey and his finny find.
The Hackensack River is slowly getting better in ways that most people never think of.
It's not just more fish and more species of fish -- or more birds, and more species of birds. It's what's happening in the mud on the river's bottom.
Today, the New Jersey Meadowlands
Commission's scientific arm is announcing some encouraging news about the health of
those little mud dwellers.
Research by the Meadowlands
Environmental Research Institute shows that the snails, worms and other tiny
organisms that live on the bottom of the river are making significant gains in both numbers and biodiversity.
(In the photo at left, researchers are gathering mud samples from the river bottom with a giant scoop. The creature pictured here, meanwhile is a Nereis succinea -- or clam worm.)
