Saturday, May 10: Two Big Days

Garret Mountain Reservation: Meet Fred Pfeifer at 8:00 am at the Great Meadow Picnic

Grove parking lot, by the Great Meadow bathroom.

Fairview Farm: Meet Deb DeSalvo at 8:00 am at the end of the driveway by the brick

cottage at 2121 Larger Cross Road, Bedminster, New Jersey.

You have choices! Saturday, May 10, is New Jersey Audubon’s Big Day, a chance to raise

money for environmental causes and to draw attention to bird conservation. Teams set

out to see and hear as many different bird species as they can in a 24-hour period. We’re not planning on birding 24 hours, but we are going to try to see and hear as many species as we can at each of our two selected locations.

Garret Mountain Reservation in Woodland Park is a well-known migrant trap in the middle of metropolitan northern New Jersey. Its 310 acres of woodlands and fields, a pollinator garden, and the large pond host a wide variety of migrant warblers, flycatchers, tanagers, and vireos, alongside many resident birds.

Fairview Farm in Bedminster is the headquarters of the Raritan Headwaters Association. The RHA has been conducting research and working to restore this 170-acre site and its native flora and fauna. The woodlands, fields, gardens, and pond attract many spring migrants, and the five miles of walking trails make the habitats and their birds easily accessible to birders.

We will bird for as long as we can at each site, but you can feel free to leave at any time. If you’d like to, you can also use this opportunity to raise money for your favorite environmental

organization. Visit the websites of New Jersey Audubon, Friends of Garret Mountain, and the Raritan Headwaters Association if you would like to donate to any of them.

For more information about our Big Day at Garret and to express your interest in participating,

email mbcoutings@gmail.com.

For more information about our Big Day at Fairview Farms and to express your interest in participating, email deborah.desalvo@comcast.net.