Nature Done Wright

This rare (for this area) Ruddy Turnstone made an appearance at DeKorte Park one summer evening several years ago. Photo credit:  Courtesy of Chris Takacs

My latest Bird Watcher column is about the series of summer evening birding walks at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. You can read the column here:

By Jim Wright
Special to The Record

    My friends at the Bergen County Audubon Society are leading a series of evening walks this summer at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst. What a great idea!

   Bergen Audubon’s Chris Takacs, an excellent Meadowlands-based birder, came up with the idea and began the walks last year. They were so successful that six more are planned between now and mid-September.

   If you’re wondering what makes DeKorte Park a  perfect place for these evening bird walks, here goes.

   1. The one-square-park is a birding paradise this time of year, especially if you like egrets, raptors and assorted shorebirds.

   “It's like visiting a totally different park with a different feeling in the evening,” says Bergen Audubon president Don Torino. “The egrets are flying out, and the black-crowned night herons are flying in. The ospreys, eagles and peregrines are still hunting. It's a magical time.”

    2. DeKorte offers spectacular views of Manhattan that are especially enchanting toward dusk. Some Meadowlands sunsets aren’t too shabby either.   

    3. DeKorte’s Marsh Discovery Trail, a half-mile-long handicap-accessible boardwalk, makes you feel like you’re, well, discovering a marsh. The rest of the park is handicap-accessible as well, and most trails are flat as a pancake.

    4. The park has plenty of native plants and a beautiful butterfly garden, so if (heaven forbid!) you tire of birding, you can always sit by the garden and hope a hummingbird or some colorful butterflies stop by.

   The first walk is next Thursday. Future walks are on Wednesday, Aug 3;  Wednesday, Aug. 17;  Wednesday, Aug. 24; Wednesday, Sept. 7; and Thursday, Sept.15. All of the evening walks begin at 6:30 p.m., after rush hour. They are free and open to the public, and there’s plenty of parking. 

    Here’s some advice if you go. Bring binoculars, wear comfortable walking shoes, use a bathroom before you arrive, and bring water and non-aerosol bug spray. On cooler evenings, it wouldn't hurt to bring a jacket.

   If you’re an experienced birder, check out the latest DeKorte sightings on eBird.org in advance. 

    If you can arrive early, stop by nearby Disposal Road and see what’s flying on the former landfill. Some days it can be slow, but other days it can’t be a great place to see raptors.

  If you’ve never been to DeKorte, allow a little extra driving time and use a map app. You may feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere when you’re driving off the beaten track in the Meadowlands. That’s because you sort of are.

   Speaking of butterflies, Butterfly Day at DeKorte Park is Sunday, July 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s free, with all sorts of walks and talks and other attractions. You might even see a bird or two. (Raindate is Sunday, July 24.)

   For more information about Butterfly Day or the evening walks, contact Don Torino, 201-230-4983 or greatauk4@gmail.com.

The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday. Email Jim at celeryfarm@gmail.com.