October 8 – 14, 2017
Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Join us for guided Sunset Walks, a unique birding event, and a special Second Sunday program.
Sunset Walks every night!
Sunday, October 8 – Saturday, October 14, 5:30 pm – dark. Meet at Bluebird Parking Lot, 197 Pleasant Plains Road.
Easy guided walk on service roads to watch flock after flock of migrating ducks descend into the Refuge pools to spend the night. It’s awesome. Easy walk on service roads.
Special Photographer Sunset Walk
Thursday, October 12, 4:45 pm – dark. Meet at Bluebird Parking Lot, 197 Pleasant Plains Road.
Get out to the impoundments and set up your cameras early. Reservations required: Call 973-425-9510 to sign up.
The Big Sit!
Sunday, October 8, during Refuge hours. Meet at the Overlook on Pleasant Plains Road.
Volunteers will be counting all the bird species seen or heard from the Overlook Parking Lot. Stop by any time to learn more about birds and bird identification, or to help with the count. For beginning or experienced birders. It’s a great way to learn and to participate in citizen science.
Second Sunday – Fall Birding Identification
Sunday, October 8, 1:30 – 3:00
Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center
Volunteer Corinne Errico will take us through the basics of bird identification during this indoor program, followed by an optional walk to join The Big Sit and practice our skills. For all ages. Bring your bincoulars or borrow ours. Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center.
The days are getting shorter – and cooler – signals that fall migration is getting into full swing. Each year, during the second full week of October, wildlife refuges around the country celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week, a time to visit and learn about a wildlife refuge near your home. Fall is a great time to visit Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Spend some time at the Wildlife Observation Center or at the Overlook to enjoy the fall season and the many migrating birds. Stop by the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center to find out what birds have been reported – or to report your sightings. Take advantage of our free public events. In signing the original National Wildlife Refuge Week proclamation in 1995, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie remarked: “It’s a time for all Americans to learn about and celebrate this magnificent collection of lands we as a people have set aside for wildlife.” Come celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week at your national wildlife refuge.
The winners of the 2017 Photo Contest were announced at the 18th annual Great Swamp Fall Festival on September 16, 2017. We received 193 entries – a new record high. Thank you to all of the 47 photographers who participated in our contest and congratulations to our winners. Our Photo Library now contains more than 1,000 Great Swamp NWR images – an invaluable collection for publications, websites, publicity, videos and more. This resource is used by the Friends, the Refuge, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over the years to this incredible, rich and diverse library.
You can view the winning photographs on our Photo Contest Winners page.
The Winners:
Category—Birds
1st Place—Jim Duffy
2nd Place—Carol Duffy
Honorable Mention—Chuck Hantis
Category—Wildlife
1st Place—Carol Duffy
2nd Place—Maureen Duffy
Honorable Mention—Jim Duffy
Category—Plants
1st Place—Jim Duffy
2nd Place—Susan Neufeld
Honorable Mention—Susan Hunt
Category—Landscape
1st Place—Carol Duffy
2nd Place—Jim Duffy
Honorable Mention—Richard Harris
Category—Youth
1st Place—Justine Wang
Honorable Mention—Madison Kenny
Honorable Mention—Caitlin Moy
Honorable Mention—Delaney Moynihan
Honorable Mention – Teresa O’Neill
Honorable Mention – Beth Polito
Thank you to our judges Jim Gilbert, professional wildlife photographer, and Bill Koch, retired Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Manager.
The 2018 contest has begun! The deadline is June 30, 2018.
The entry form will be available soon. In the meantime, come on over to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, bring your camera, and start snapping!
National Wildlife Refuge Week – Special Evening Just For Photographers – Thursday, October 12
This year, we will again have a special Sunset Walk during National Wildlife Refuge Week just for photographers. The walk will start promptly at 4:45 p.m. from the Bluebird Parking Lot. We’ll walk to the impoundment pools where you will have time to set up your equipment early. Space is limited and reservations are required. Call 973-425-9510 to register.
18th Annual Fall Festival, Saturday, September 16, 10:00 am to 3:30 pm
Join us as we welcome in the fall season at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Our annual Fall Festival is a day-long celebration with lots of activities for kids and adults, ample parking, and free hot dogs on the grill for lunch.
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- Come for river seining and check out some of the critters that live in the Passaic River.
- Try your hand at target archery or our hoverball shooting gallery.
- Climb aboard the Refuge’s really big equipment and check the view.
- Build a bluebird nest box to take home.
- Join us for a guided nature walk on the Bockoven Trail.
- Check out the live refuge critters — turtles, snakes, frogs — and fish!
- Learn about our innovative Head-Start program for turtles and see the wood turtle hatchlings.
- Stop by and visit our partners — The Raptor Trust, NJ Audubon Society, Native Plant Society of NJ, North American Butterfly Association, the Passaic River Institute, Great Swamp Watershed Association, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Customs Officers, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, and our urban partner — Groundwork Elizabeth.
- 2017 Photo Contest winners will be announced at 11:30 am.
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This year we’re celebrating the Water! Start the day with our Wetlands Challenge — fill in the blanks and collect your prize. Then tour the WOW Express — our new Watershed on Wheels exhibit and learn all about the importance and value of watersheds — like our own Great Swamp.
Fall is a fabulous time to visit Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Join us to kick off the fall season.
18th Annual Fall Festival
Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center
32 Pleasant Plains Road, Harding Township, NJ
10:00 am to 3:30 pm, rain or shine
Commemorative Brick Campaign Relaunch
Friends of Great Swamp NWR is bringing back our commemorative brick campaign for a limited time. You can purchase a commemorative brick to be placed in the patio at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center through December 31, 2017. Your donation will help enrich and expand visitor experiences at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
A lot has happened since 2009 when the Friends first launched a brick fundraising campaign. The Visitor Center is now open seven days a week welcoming thousands of visitors each year. School groups come to explore nature and learn about the natural world. There are additional native plant gardens, purple martin gourd arrays, and three trails for visitors. It’s a vibrant, educational, and exciting place to visit.
Bricks on the patio memorialize loved ones, honor friends and family, or express donors’ commitments to nature and the Refuge. All proceeds from brick purchases fund initiatives at Great Swamp NWR.
Download a copy of the Brick Order Form. Make checks payable to Friends of Great Swamp NWR and mail your check and form(s) to the Friends of Great Swamp NWR, 32 Pleasant Plains Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920. Credit card payments are accepted at the Friends Nature Shop in the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center, open: Monday – Wednesday, 10:00 to 1:00; Thursday – Friday, 1:00 to 4:00; Saturday – Sunday, 10:00 to 4:00.
A commemorative brick is your lasting legacy and a generous and meaningful donation to Friends of Great Swamp NWR. For more information, email info@friendsofgreatswamp.org.
Thank you to all the photographers who have submitted photos for the Friends Refuge Photo Contest. We received many spectacular and interesting photos. Winners will be announced at the annual Fall Festival on Saturday, September 16, at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center. It’s a fun day of activities, exhibits, crafts for kids, and free hot dogs on the grill. Join us to welcome in the fall season.
Photo Contest Deadline June 30, Winners will be announced September 16.
The first Refuge Photo Contest was held in 2001, and since that year, thousands of photographs have been submitted, creating a goldmine of images of the birds, wildlife, plants, and scenic shots of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. This digital library is used on a regular basis by the Friends and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide photos for Facebook and websites, the Swamp Scene newsletter, exhibits and flyers, postcards which are sold in the Friends Nature Shop, outreach and orientation presentations, and the photo slide show which runs continuously in the Visitor Center. Thank you so much to the many photographers who have submitted photos over the years. You are hundreds of eyes capturing so much diversity in all seasons at all times of day. It’s priceless. There is no other way this incredible digital library resource could have been created.
Deadline approaching
The deadline for the 2017 Photo Contest is fast approaching. Entries must be received by June 30, 2017. We accept digital entries only. You may mail your entries or drop them off at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center.
This year, you may also submit your photos online, using our new website Photo Contest Entry Form.
Download the contest rules here.
You can contribute to the Photo Library
Winners will be announced at Fall Festival, September 16, 2017. Whether or not your photo is selected as a winner, this is a great way to donate your photos to the Friends and the Refuge where they will be added to the digital library and used for interpretation, education, and public enjoyment. Thank you so much for contributing to this incredible and unique resource.