Nature Done Wright

   I am writing this post to bring your attention to Mike Kelly’s recent column in The Record on the historic Steuben House in River Edge.
  It is an amazing but neglected place in an amazing but neglected setting.
   I know the house and its setting fairly well from stories I have done on both the Hackensack River and the house.
  Mike’s column speaks for itself. I would just like to point out to everyone that this is an amazing spot for naturalists as well as history buffs, with the potential to be so much more.
  My wife Patty and I went to the Steuben House on New Year’s Day near sunset because we wanted to take a walk with Patty’s sister someplace different.
   I know what kind of birds can be seen there other times of year, and I had a gut instinct the birding would be interesting on this day.
   Sure enough, we had an amazing view of a belted kingfisher as we drove up.

   We soon saw a great blue heron standing in a parking lot next to the river. Minutes later, a red–tailed hawk soaried near the river by Teaneck’s Brett Park.
   What struck me about Mike’s column is that he talked not only about the challenges faced by this historic treasure but by its locale — garden apartments, former junkyards, pizzeria parking lot.
    To see a great blue heron standing in a parking lot by the river just seems incongruous.
    The Steuben House is a national treasure.
   Its surroundings are a natural treasure.
    They are worth a visit even if they are in less than ideal situations.
   But you can’t help but think they could be so much more…