Photo: Chuck Hantis
February 14 – 16, 2020, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm every day at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center
Join us for three days of birding fun. Help volunteers count the birds at the feeders from inside the Visitor Center. Daily bird counts will be reported to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to aid in citizen-science research on bird populations and distribution. Can’t tell a house finch from a goldfinch? No problem. Our volunteers will teach you how to identify the common feeder birds.
There will also be some fun bird-related activities for kids and adults. Make a suet bird feeder to take home, play bird bingo for a prize, paint your own tree cookie ornament, try your skills at our (indoor) Birding “Find It” game.
Great Backyard Bird Count Schedule
Every Day – Indoors
- 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Count the birds! Volunteers will be on hand to help identify and count the species. It’s fun and easy!
- Bird Bingo for kids – play our game and win a prize!
- Make a pine cone bird feeder to take home.
- What’s Your Bird Name?
- Paint your own tree cookie ornament.
- Birding “Find It” game.
Special Events for Saturday, February 15
1:00 – 2:00 pm: Learn to identify common winter birds. Indoor presentation by naturalist Dorothy Smullen.
2:00 – 3:30 pm: Guided bird walk along Pleasant Plains Road to count the birds. Bring binoculars or borrow ours. Dress warmly.
This event is free and registration is not required. Join us!
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an international citizen science event launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society. Now more than 160,000 people of all ages from around the world join the count each February to create an annual snapshot of bird distribution and abundance worldwide. This data is critical in wild bird research to find ways to protect these wild creatures for future generations.
Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center
32 Pleasant Plains Road, Harding Township, NJ
973-425-9510
Photo: Robert Stapperfenne
Thursdays, 10:30 a.m., Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center
We all know that exercise is good for your health, and research shows that it’s even better if you do it outdoors. It’s official! Spending time outside can improve your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. But winter often makes it harder.
Friends are here to help with weekly Winter Walks. Join Friends President Steve Herdman every Thursday beginning January 2 at 10:30 a.m. for a brisk walk on Pleasant Plains Road from the Visitor Center to the Bluebird Parking Lot – a round trip distance of about 2.5 miles.
Walk at your own pace, walk as far as you want, bring friends, your dog, your binoculars. Enjoy some exercise, fresh air, and good company. Join us. Let’s get outside!
Call the Visitor Center at 973-425-9510 for announcements of weather cancellations.
Following nearly 2,000 hours of volunteer work, the new Chandler S. Robbins Memorial Viewing Platform is now finished and open to the public. This new observation deck, at the site of the former Friends Blind, is a two-level viewing platform. The lower level is ADA compliant and raised about four feet from ground level. The upper level, accessible by stairs, is eight feet high. Both levels provide an extensive view of the refuge’s largest impoundment (artificial pool) and the surrounding area – a treat for birders and non-birders alike.
The viewing platform was made possible by a generous grant from the Robbins Family. As is noted on the memorial plaque, Chandler S. Robbins was a preeminent ornithologist and conservationist of the 20th century. He was a co-author of the popular Golden Guide: “Birds of North America: A guide to Field Identification” and was instrumental in organizing the North American Breeding Bird Survey in 1966, the primary monitoring program for birds in North America.
Volunteer and Friends Board Member George Solovay designed the structure and led a team of 14 volunteers in construction, including assistance from George Robbins, Chandler’s son. Oversight and assistance was provided by refuge staff. Information about the life and legacy of Chandler S. Robbins may be found here. https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/robbins/index.cfm
Welcome to Wild!
Sunday, October 13—All day, 8:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m.
The Big Sit!
Join the Friends and identify as many bird species as possible within a 17 foot diameter circle. Stop by the Overlook to find out what it’s all about. All are welcome!
Sunday, October 13, 9:00—10:30 am
Guided Bird Walk
We’ll meet at the Visitor Center and bird our way down to join The Big Sit at the Overlook. Easy walk on Pleasant Plains Road. Loaner binoculars available.
Sunday, October 13, 1:30—3:00 pm
Second Sunday… Bats At Great Swamp
Join Refuge Biologist, Marilyn Kitchell, for this update on bats—our only flying mammal, white-nose syndrome, and bat research. Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center.
Sunday, October 13 through Saturday, October 19, 5:30 pm to dusk
Sunset Walks
Join us for guided walks into the Management Area, normally closed to the public. We’ll enjoy an easy 1 mile (round trip) walk to the impoundment area and watch as flocks of ducks descend into the marsh for the night. Volunteer birders will help identify the many species. Walks will be cancelled in event of rain. Not suitable for strollers or small children. Bluebird Parking Lot.
Special Photographer Sunset Walk: Thursday, October 17, 4:30 pm—dusk. Get out to the impoundments early and set up your cameras. Bluebird Parking Lot.
Event Locations
Overlook—on Pleasant Plains Road
Bluebird Parking Lot—197 Pleasant Plains Road
Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center—32 Pleasant Plains Road
Note: Bridge at North Gate will be open during Sunset Walks
Rediscover Your True Nature at a National Wildlife Refuge Near You.
The sky was grey, but spirits were sunny at this year’s Fall Festival. Visitors swarmed the grounds to see the exhibits, play the games, try their hand at archery and see what would show up in the Passaic River seins. Youngsters (and a few oldsters) clambered on the heavy equipment, grabbed live fish in the touch tank and listened raptly to the Raptor Trust’s live presentation, with equally live raptors.
Almost 100 kids built birdhouses, while others played Watershed Jenga or took in this year’s play, “At Bat”. Of course, lots of free hot dogs, apples and drinks and the chance to get a Junior Refuge Manager badge in just one day. And as always, the winners of this year’s photo contest were announced. You can see who won, and watch a slide show of the winning entries, on our Photo Contest page here.
If you were there, thanks for coming. But if not, we’ll do it again for you next year.
Illustration by Jane Bell
Fall Festival, September 14, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Help celebrate the fall season at the 20th Annual Fall Festival at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. This free family event features outdoor activities for all ages. Climb up on the Refuge bulldozer and other heavy equipment. Try your hand at target archery or build a chickadee nest box to take home. Check out what’s in the Passaic River with river seining. There will be live turtles, snakes, frogs and fish. Our environmental partners will be on hand with displays and hands-on activities. Winners of the 2019 Photo Contest will be announced at 11:30 a.m. Enjoy hot dogs on the grill and this year’s fall apples. It’s all free, with plenty of parking.
This year our theme is Bats – the only flying mammal. There will be information about New Jersey’s nine species of bats, bat life history, myths, and the current status of the deadly disease – White Nose Syndrome – which has killed 7 million bats since it arrived in the northeast in 2006. There will also be bat prizes for our bat activities and games and an original play “At Bat”.
Join us at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, 32 Pleasant Plains Road, Harding Township, NJ (exit 30A from Route 287). This is a rain or shine event. Co-sponsored by Friends of Great Swamp NWR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more information call 973-425-9510.