Do you know why May’s full moon is called the Full Flower Moon? With spring in full swing and flowers bursting out all over, it’s not too hard to guess! This is an amazing time of year at NJ’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Fully awake after a long winter’s nap, the wetlands along the boardwalks are positively teeming with wildlife and the new green of trees, marsh grasses, and water lilies. It’s easy to connect with the Refuge’s many natural wonders during the day, but to experience them at night, with a full moon rising over the horizon and animal activity at its peak, is something casual visitors rarely get to see. Fortunately, the Great Swamp Watershed Association has a special-use permit that allows us to enter the Refuge at night. And that means we can share the priviledge with you! You, your family, and friends are invited to join naturalist Hazel England — GSWA’s director of education and outreach — for a special full-moon hike at the Refuge’s Wildlife Observation Center off Long Hill Road in Harding Township. Hazel will re-acquaint you with your night senses so you can hear, smell, and even see things that escape you […]
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The forests and fields are bursting with color during the first few weeks of May. Woodland wildflowers such as wild ginger, May apple, and Virginia blue bells are making their first appearances. Migratory birds are returning and especially active as they search for mates and begin to build their nests. Flashes of yellow from warblers, red from tanagers, and blue from buntings will delight your senses during this colorful spring stroll. |
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Calling all would-be explorers, adventurers, and buccaneers! The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt is back for another year of outdoor fun! Think you know a thing or two about New Jersey’s Great Swamp? Then it’s time to test your powers of navigation and observation to find out. Begin the Scavenger Hunt just after 10 a.m. by checking in at GSWA’s Home Base under the pavilion at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge’s Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center. (The Visitor Center is located just inside the Lee’s Hill Road park entrance at 32 Pleasant Plains Road in Harding Township, NJ.) We will provide you with a route to travel, questions to answer, and a list of treasures to find throughout the 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region. It’s your job to navigate to each treasure site, seek answers to the questions and riddles provided, and then return to Home Base with all your spoils. Remember to hurry back to 32 Pleasant Plains Road at 3 p.m. because your day of pilfering booty will earn you several chances to win some special prizes at our Scavenger’s Tricky Tray! A free cookout waits for all who participate, so don’t forget your barbecue enthusiasm. We love […] |
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Find inspiration for your spring planting and decorating while supporting Great Swamp Watershed Association on May 20, 2015, during during our 2nd Annual Home & Garden Tour Fundraiser. The tour will be a celebration of charming, historic homes; enchanting gardens; and elegant estates inhabiting the Great Swamp region. And, please help us build a great turnout by giving them to your friends and hanging them in your local coffee shop, grocery store, town hall, workplace, etc. Advance registration is very strongly recommended. To register online, please complete the form below. To register by phone, please call (973) 538-3500 x22. Please remember that advance registration closes at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19. After that, all new registrations will be taken at the door for $60/person. How to Prepare: A tour program and a map of the tour route will be supplied at check-in. All participants should be prepared to wear booties over their shoes or take their shoes off when entering a tour home. (Disposable booties will be available at each stop.) Conditions may be hot, cold, or wet, so please dress appropriately and bring along rain gear just in case of inclement weather. If you plan to have lunch […] |
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Laura Kelm, director of water quality programs at the Great Swamp Watershed Association, wraps up the Spring 2015 Breakfast Briefing Series by introducing the organization brand new watershed report card program. The new program is designed to provide members of the public with an annual update on the quality of water in the five major streams feeding the Great Swamp and the Passaic River. This is a special Saturday morning briefing beginning at 10 a.m. A continental breakfast will be served. Background In 2013, the Great Swamp Watershed Association published State of the Streams in the Great Swamp Watershed, a comprehensive report that assembled and analyzed chemical, visual, and biological water quality data collected over the course of a decade from the five main streams feeding the Great Swamp and the Passaic River. Requiring months of labor by GSWA staff and volunteers, the project continues to inform our understanding of the changes our watershed has experienced, and how the organization can continue building and reporting on its growing database of scientific observations. Based on the success of State of the Streams, GSWA has developed a new Water Quality Report Card program for the Great Swamp region. Issued annually, the report […] |
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