On Tuesday, April 28, Raritan Headwater Association’s Bird-a-Thon began at Watchung Hills Regional High School with 19 aspiring teenage birders! The wooded area behind the high school was surprisingly abundant, with 15 bird species, including Pileated, Red-bellied, and Downy woodpeckers, plus a rare sighting of a hairy woodpecker, a less common woodpecker in New Jersey! The native flora of the area was undoubtedly the reason for such diversity – from mayapples and Solomon’s seal on the forest floor to shagbark hickory and white oak towering above. The students left with a greater understanding of the connection between healthy habitat and wildlife diversity.

The walk at Watchung Hills was part of this year’s extended Bird-a-Thon – a week devoted to exploring our region’s beautiful landscapes and sharing the excitement of spring migration with as many people as possible. Our Bird-a-Thon week also included walks at Fairview Farm Wildlife Preserve in Far Hills with Willow School 3rd graders and at Ethos Farm in Long Valley with their dedicated CSA and community members. Rounding out the week was a morning walk led by Deborah DeSalvo and the Montclair Bird Club at Cold Brook Farm in Tewksbury, and a beautiful evening community walk led by Chris Neff at Riamede Farm in Chester. During our community walks on Saturday, May 2nd, we explored Fairview Farm again (there is always something new to see!) and added Robert J. Stahl Natural Area and River Road Park in Bedminster to the list. While our main goal was to count as many species as possible, we were also excited to count the 87 people who joined our walks!

Highlights from the weekday walks included eastern warbling vireos almost everywhere we went, and an American kestrel spotted at Ethos, a threatened species in New Jersey. At River Road Park, we were excited to spot a Northern Waterthrush singing its heart out in the wooded wetlands.

By midday Saturday, we still had a few targets to find, which was an interesting exercise in strategically thinking about the mosaic of habitats throughout the watershed. We hadn’t yet seen an osprey…so our South Branch team, Debbie Newcomb and Eleanor Leen, visited Round Valley Reservoir to find one. The South Branchers also added Red-Headed woodpecker to the list, spotted in a beautiful swamp in the northern region of the watershed.

Daniel Magda, AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassador and a first-rate wildlife spotter, added a Blackburnian warbler and Chimney swifts to our list while helping train stream-monitoring volunteers at Echo Hill in Flemington! Photographer Chris Neff reported back with the Solitary sandpiper we needed, along with an Eastern meadowlark and a Bobolink… and, of course, some of his fabulous photography!

Our third year of Bird-a-Thon was a true celebration of building community through conservation. From inspiring young folks to engage with the natural world to helping the rest of us continue our lifelong learning, and from building new connections with like-minded folks to birding with old friends, we are so grateful for the opportunity to protect the watershed alongside so many great people.

Our team was excited to find 108 species across the watershed – from the headwaters in Budd Lake and Mendham to the lower stretches of the Raritan in East Amwell and Branchburg!

This fun day of birding also highlighted something important – that the work we all do to protect crucial habitat in the watershed region supports a great diversity of life. The clean water, native plants, healthy soil, and people who act as stewards are all part of this delicate ecosystem – and it’s your support that keeps it going.

We thank you for your support, which will help us continue our mission to protect the Raritan Headwaters region.