Tag: Backyard habitat

by David Wheeler

COVID-19 has changed our lives in virtually every possible way over the last few months. Our relationship to wildlife is no different. This three-part series explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown on wildlife in New Jersey and across the world. Read Part 1 here, and check out our podcast on COVID-19 and wildlife.

Wildlife from your Window

We have received more reports than ever from people seeing wildlife species they hadn’t seen before, and behaviors they had never previously observed, much of it from their own yards. People are tending to gardens more than ever before, and enjoying seeing the attendant pollinators.

You don’t have to travel far to see amazing wildlife. Our Backyard Safari video series will show you stunning perspectives on wildlife living right in your neighborhood.

Join producer Matt Wozniak for a new adventure each week. This week, Cricket Combat will have you on the edge of your seat. You might not know it, but crickets are fierce fighters! Their pitched one-on-one battles can take place just steps from your back door. 

Adventure awaits just outside your door on a backyard safari!

You don’t have to travel far to see amazing wildlife. Our new Backyard Safari video series will show you stunning perspectives on wildlife living right in your neighborhood.

Join producer Matt Wozniak for a new adventure each week. First up, The Antlion’s Trap gives you an up-close-and-personal look at a mighty predator relentlessly trapping its prey, in a dramatic scene that could take place just about anywhere in New Jersey. Thankfully, that predator happens to be only an inch long! 

It’s been several years since the old Ponderlodge Golf Course was purchased by the Green Acres Program. After being slated for use as a satellite campus for Stockton College the old lodge and other buildings are long gone from the site. Today, the site is managed for wildlife and outdoor recreation. The old paved cart paths make it a magnet for local residents to easily explore it’s features. We’re delighted to be working with NJ Fish & Wildlife to enhance the habitat on site.  This past week we planted over 2,700 native species in an area we call the “Backyard Habitat Demonstration Site.” It’s in an area where the old lodge used to be located. The purpose of the site is for visitors to learn about features they themselves can install in their own backyards to benefit wildlife. We have 6 main features: Forested habitat, Scrub-shrub, Wildflower meadow, Pond (not yet installed), Nectar producing plants, and a brush pile. The features will be highlighted by interpretive signs and we hope to get volunteers to help maintain the site in the future.

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