Archive for May 2023

By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of beach season at the Jersey shore. As if a switch has been flipped, beaches along the ocean and bays go from quiet and deserted to buzzing with human activity. The season does not begin as suddenly for migratory shorebirds that make New…

By Tom Gilbert, Co-Executive Director The chunky woodland sandpiper called the American woodcock is a favorite of spring birdwatchers due to the male’s acrobatic courtship display flights. Making a distinctive buzz call and melodious twittering song, males rise hundreds of feet in the air before making plunging dives earthward. Though woodcocks are part of the…

By Alison Mitchell, Co-Executive Director If you look at the New Jersey Pine Barrens from the road or the air, it may seem to live up to its name – miles upon miles of endless pitch pine forest. But the million-acre-plus region spanning seven counties in South Jersey is not just pines … and it’s…

By Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director New Jersey is known as the Garden State, but not all communities are filled with trees, flowers and fresh breezes. Many of the state’s urban areas host facilities like power plants, trash and medical waste incinerators, landfills, and recycling and scrap metal processors that emit pollutants into the air. Constant…