Join us for three days of birding fun
February 18 – 20, 2022
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an international event that is free, fun and easy for everyone. It engages bird watchers of all ages and skill levels in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations around the world.
Feeder Count from inside the Visitor Center
Volunteers will be counting birds at the feeders from inside the Visitor Center every day (February 18th – 20th) from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Visitors are invited to help with the count. Stop by for a few minutes – or more. For novice birders, volunteers will teach you how to identify the common feeder birds. We will practice social distancing and masks are required.
Special GBBC Winter Walk
Friday, February 18, 11:00 am–12:30 pm
In addition to our regular Winter Walk, volunteer Paul Lauber will lead a GBBC Bird Walk to count all the birds seen, and heard, along Pleasant Plains Road. Dress warmly and bring binoculars; masks are recommended. You may leave the walk at any time. Download Cornell’s free Merlin Bird ID app before you come to help identify birds by sound.
Daily bird counts from the feeders and the walk will be reported to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for scientists to use for research and education. Your participation will be helping these professionals learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share.
For more information, check out the Great Backyard Bird Count website: birdcount.org. There’s a link there to sign up for a free GBBC Webinar on Wednesday, February 16, 2:00 pm to brush up on bird ID and practice counting birds. You are encouraged to do a bird count from your own home as well.
From the Pacific Islands …
Success! Strike Teams Eradicate Invasive Crazy Ants
From Island Refuge
Sunday, February 13, 1:30 p.m. on Zoom
Join Kate Toniolo, Superintendent of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as she relates the incredible success story of eradicating the Yellow Crazy Ant from Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, about 820 miles southwest of Honolulu and one of the most isolated places on Earth.
This 640 acre refuge is home to tens of thousands of seabirds. Since 2010, the crazy ants have threatened these ground-nesting birds. The ants don’t bite, but they spray an acid which causes injuries including blindness and even death.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded by setting up Crazy Ant Strike Teams. Every six months a new five-person crew of volunteers and staff was assigned to this remote, uninhabited island to kill yellow crazy ants. The battle required creativity and ingenuity. Crews had to experiment to find the best way to bait and eradicate the ants. They had to hand-search the island multiple times to check for ants. Conservation dogs were also brought in to sniff out any remaining ants.
Success! After combating yellow crazy ants for nearly a decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared that the invasive yellow ant has been eradicated from Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, an amazing story.
Photo by NPS
Saturday, January 15, anytime between 11:00 a.m. – Noon
Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center Pavilion
With the onset of winter, the adult Spotted Lanternflies have died. But they have left behind the next generation in thousands of egg masses, each one containing 30 to 50 eggs.
Join experts Tony Cullen from the USDA and Carolyn Rubinfeld from NJ DEP on Saturday, January 15 to learn how to spot these egg masses and effective ways to destroy them.
The program will take place at the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center Pavilion. Stop by any time between 11:00 and Noon. Our experts will point out real egg masses and demonstrate how to crush them. Wear boots and dress warmly. The program will take place outside the Visitor Center and focus on several trees along the service road. Bring binoculars if you have them to spot higher up egg masses.
We hope you will take this new-found knowledge back to your own home and help stop the spread of this destructive insect pest.
Masks are recommended for the program. Masks are required inside the Visitor Center which is open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
More information on this destructive invasive insect may be found on this website.
https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/pests-diseases/spotted-lanternfly/
Photo by Tom Gula
That’s a question that volunteers at the Wildlife Observation Center hear often from visitors, especially after they have visited the elevated Chandler S. Robbins Memorial Viewing Platform, hoping to see an abundance of waterfowl.
To answer that question, the Friends are delighted to welcome Refuge Manager Mike Horne for our first Second Sunday program of 2022. He will discuss the philosophy and facts about water management at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
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- Where does the water come from?
- Where does it go?
- And what happens in between to benefit habitat and wildlife.
There will also be plenty of time to ask questions. This will be a virtual program on Zoom and registration is required.
Second Sunday, January 9, 2022, 1:30-3pm via Zoom
The Zoom link will be sent to all registrants at Noon on September 9th.
Second Sundays are sponsored by Friends of Great Swamp NWR with generous support from the Marta Heflin Foundation.
- Friday, December 10 through Sunday, December 12
- Friday, December 17 through Sunday, December 19.
Via Zoom
Saturday, December 4, 2021
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
The 2021 Annual Meeting of Members will take place remotely via Zoom; members may also dial in by phone. The meeting is open to all current members of Friends of Great Swamp NWR. Registration is required by November 30, 2021. Register online HERE. The Zoom logon will be sent via email on December 4 at Noon, along with the Minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting.
The agenda will include reports from the President and Board members, approval of 2020 Minutes, and the election of directors. The business meeting will be followed by a presentation by member Robert Lin using his photographs from Great Swamp. He will offer photo tips as well as some fun pictures and bird stories.
We hope you will be able to join us. If you have any questions email info@friendsofgreatswamp.org.
Double Discount Days!
Mark Your Calendar for our annual Double Discount Days in the Friends Nature Shop from Friday, December 3 through Sunday, December 5, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Take 10% off all purchases; 20% for members. Start your holiday shopping early and help support the Friends – and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.