The morning began at Jake’s Branch County Park, a property I’m familiar with because when my kids were very small we lived in Beachwood and visited the nature center and the playground many times. Kate, a naturalist who works at Jake’s Branch, gave us a tour of the nature center. We discussed the taxidermy displays … Read more

Warren Grove Pygmy Pine Forest I was born in Ocean County and lived here most of my life, but I had never heard of a pygmy pine forest. The class took a short van ride to Warren Grove to check out this phenomenon in the heart of Ocean County. This forest consists of pitch pines … Read more

Saturday, April 21st was our trip, and my first time, to visit Wells Mills County Park. It’s the site of an old saw mill on Oyster Creek. They dammed it up to create a source of power for the mill and created a lake. Did you know that south Jersey has no natural lakes? They … Read more

Naturalist Excursion: FREC in Jackson, NJ characteristics of the evergreens The group returned to the Nature Center where Becky and Candace discussed cuttings that Becky had taken from surrounding trees and taught us about the characteristics of the evergreens we saw that day. Pitch pines are the dominant species in the pine barrens. A short … Read more

Naturalist Excursion: FREC in Jackson, NJ As the group gathered outside again to walk the trails down to the Toms River, our instructor, Becky Laboy, pointed out that as we approached the water, the plants we observed were changing. Wet land obligate plants require lots of water and the kind of plants we see indicate … Read more

Laura Stone is the vice president of the New Jersey Bluebird Society and monitors blue bird nest boxes on trails throughout Ocean County. Bluebirds are a native species of thrush that used to be found in abundant flocks throughout the area. They are secondary cavity dwellers and territorial ground feeders that eat insects from the … Read more

Forest Resource Education Center The class met at the FREC to explore the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. The trip was from 9am to 3pm and by the time we left, we had to hustle through the final part of the presentation because there is so much to discover there! We began by meeting Candace … Read more

Last night was the first class of the Master Naturalist’s Program created by the Barnegat Bay Partnership. This short course, hosted through Ocean County College Continuing Professional Education Department, began with a lecture on the campus in Toms River, NJ. I met the instructors, GraceAnne Taylor and Becky Laboy and the Public Outreach Coordinator from … Read more