Everyone agrees that bees and butterflies are worth protecting. But wasps are a different story. Learn the surprising truths about the world’s least popular beneficial insects!
Presenter, Chris Alice Kratzer, engineer, scientist and entrepreneur will have her book, The Social Wasps of North America available for sale and signing. $25.00, cash only.
THIS WILL BE A HYBRID PROGRAM: – in-person in the pavilion at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center (32 Pleasant Plains Road, Harding Township NJ) – on Zoom (log-on information will be sent to all registrants on Sunday, July 9 at noon) Registration is required for either in-person or Zoom.
Sign up at https://ttsu.me/wasps.
Sponsored by Friends of Great Swamp NWR with generous support from the Marta Heflin Foundation.
Mike Dennis of Traditional Earth Skills LLC will take us back in time to learn about the paleo people of New Jersey who lived here 10,000 years ago and the Native American people of New Jersey known as the Lenape. Learn how these native people lived and how geological changes affected them.
THIS WILL BE A HYBRID PROGRAM: – in-person in the pavilion at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center (32 Pleasant Plains Road, Harding Township, NJ) or on Zoom (log-on information will be sent to registrants on Sunday, June 11 at noon)
Registration is required for either in-person or Zoom.
Sign up at https://ttsu.me/lenape
Sponsored by Friends of Great Swamp NWR with generous support from the Marta Heflin Foundation.
Plastic is everywhere and it adversely impacts birds and wildlife even on one of the most remote places on earth, Midway Atoll NWR. Join a video team to learn more about the problem and meet the world’s oldest banded wild bird, “Wisdom”, who has life lessons to share. Friends Board member Judi DiMaio will provide hints on how to reduce our daily consumption of plastics.
The May program will be in-person in the Pavilion at Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center and virtually on Zoom on Sunday, May 14 from 1:30-3pm. The Zoom logon will be emailed to all registrants that Sunday at 12pm.
Register at ttsu.me/plasticpollution
The Effect of Light Pollution on Chimney Swift Roosting behavior
Presenters: Emma Dougherty and Elise Morton from Fairleigh Dickinson University
Light pollution is an anthropogenic factor that is rapidly increasing, posing serious threats to wildlife. Artificial light at night (ALAN) has been shown to impact behaviors and population dynamics of wildlife, often with negative consequences. One species of concern that we predict to be impacted by ALAN is the Chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica), a small aerial insectivore distributed across the Americas that often utilizes artificial structures such as chimneys for nesting, breeding, and roosting. Once abundant across its range, the Chimney
swift population has been steadily declining and is currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, yet the causes remain unknown. Based on the finding that coordinated entry of roosting sites is signaled by the time of sunset, we hypothesized that ALAN would affect the roosting behavior of Chimney swifts, specifically that higher levels of ALAN will cause delayed entry into roosting sites and extend the time of foraging. To test our hypothesis, we recorded the time of entry into roosting sites distributed along a light pollution gradient in the New York Metropolitan Area and New Jersey.
Join us on April 16th from 1:30-3pm and we will share with you what we found, and how we can work together to learn how to conserve this amazing species.
This will be a hybrid program, both in-person at the Pavilion at the Visitor Center and also virtually on Zoom. Registration is required for both in-person and Zoom.
Register here at https://ttsu.me/swifts
The Refuge Photo Contest sponsored by Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge returns for 2023!
All amateur photographers are invited to submit a total of five digital photos in any of the following categories: Raptors, Birds Other than Raptors, Landscapes, Pollinators & Other Insects, Plants and Fungi, and Other Wildlife. A special youth category is available for kids 16 and under. Pictures must be taken within the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge boundaries. All photos must be submitted online at the Friends website where the official entry form and detailed rules are posted.
Start snapping and get ready to share those special photos you’ve taken at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge! Deadline is July 4, 2023 with an award ceremony planned for September.
Please remember that putting the well-being of wildlife first must be every photographer’s aim. The Friends of Great Swamp NWR strongly supports the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Principles of Ethical Field Practice. This means always putting the welfare of the subject before yourself or the photograph.
You can find the Refuge Photo Contest under the Photo Contest menu on the Friend’s website or by clicking here.
Second Sunday, March 12, 2023; 1:30- 3:00 PM
Over the past few years, the public has become increasingly aware that the world of fungi is as mysterious as it is fascinating. Fungi live everywhere…in all kinds of organisms, in the air, in water, and even inside solid rock. Remarkably, eighty-five percent of all plants on earth depend on fungal connections that benefit both partners.
Dorothy Smullen is a retired high school science teacher with a Masters in Biology. She is the past president of the New Jersey Mycological Association and a former board member of Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Dorothy is also a teacher/naturalist for the New Jersey Audubon, and is a much sought-after speaker on many aspects of the natural world, including fungi, botany, insects, birds, and frogs.
In her program Fungi for the Future, Dorothy will discuss fungi’s amazing role in history, medicine, and the future of our ecosystem. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to hear from Dorothy Smullen, an expert in the incredible world of fungi.
This will be a hybrid program, both in-person at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center Library and virtually on Zoom. Registration is required for both. Sign up at ttsu.me/fungi