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October 2017

September 2017

Last Week's Mystery Solved

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On Monday Alice Leurck wondered:

I found this moth on my porch in mid-September. I thought I would just look it up to see what it is.

Well, that did not work very well. Maybe your readers can help.

We had two responses.

Wade Wander (via Deedee Burnside) wrote:

Bronzed Cutworm Moth which can be quite variable in appearance. It is common in late summer and fall.

Patrick Carney suspected it was a Shaded Umber Moth, Nephelodes minians.

Thank you, Wade and Patrick.

Both answers exceeded my pay grade.


 

 

 


Fell House Barn Sale Is Saturday!

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The Historic John Fell House's barn sale* is this Saturday (Sept. 30) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fell House barn, 475 Franklin Turnpike, Allendale.

The barn is brimming with all kinds of cool stuff, including furniture, antiques, toys, china, books and a framed Grandma Moses print.

Help us clear it out and support our efforts to preserve this amazing property and its structures.

We hope to have some 2018 Celery Farm calendars for sale as well.

Be there or be square.

Note: Parking is allowed along Franklin Turnpike but parking on the sidewalk is verboten under state law.

* The barn itself is not for sale. Some literal-minded actually stopped and asked if it was. Similarly, If the Fell House has a sidewalk sale, the sidewalk will not be for sale. Just to be clear.

 


Climbing Mount Tammany

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An overnight Nature Conservancy trip took me through the Delaware Water Gap last week, and I made a quick stop to climb Mount Tammany in nearby Worthington State Forest.

The 1,527-foot-high summit offers terrific panoramic views of the Delaware watershed, where The Nature Conservancy and its partners are doing a lot of environmental restoration work.

The ascent up the red trail took roughly an hour of aggressive hiking/scrambling up rocks, but it was well worth the effort. The view will only get more spectacular as the foliage changes.

The descent, down the blue trail, is much easier and features a waterfall. I also saw a cool frog and Question Mark or Comma butterfly along the way. Lots of vultures and a Red-tail, but an otherwise slow mid-morning for birds.

No matter which way you go, bring plenty of water, a hiking pole and a cellphone (for any emergencies).

Mount Tammany is an hour or so from the Celery Farm, just off Route 80 just before the bridge into Pennsylvania.

More about Mount Tammany here.

 


Next Month: Meadowlands Birding Festival

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Sign up now:  The Meadowlands Birding Festival is Saturday, Oct. 7. It's free, and it features some pretty cool walks and talks. Keynote speaker is Richard Crossley. 

Ron Shields and I will be giving a presentation tied to the fifth anniversary of Schiffer Books' publication of "The Nature of the Meadowlands," the large-format, photo-driven book about the region's environmental comeback that I did with a huge help from Ron and Marco Van Brabant.

I'll talk a bit about the book, and Ron will talk about some of the amazing bird photos he's taken in the Meadowlands, and how he got them.

A full schedule is here.

Registration is here.