Local photographer visits Refuge
Over the summer UWR has had a repeat visitor, local photographer Jeremy Amsterdam. After meeting with our manager on his first visit, he set off exploring the Refuge, photographing the scenery and wildlife. We have been lucky enough to receive many beautiful photos, taken over the course of his visits, that we will continue to share with you. Highlighted here is some of his work, images of bird species regularly seen at the Refuge. We extend our gratitude to Jeremy for visiting the Refuge and sharing his wonderful work with us.

Here are some recent news media articles concerning beavers. You can see our entire and growing list, a tribute to this wonderful keystone species, in our Beavers in the News page. If you come across a news item on beavers, please send us the link so that we can consider it for inclusion.

Baby beaver born on Exmoor for first time in 400 years, by Phoebe Weston.

A baby beaver has been born on Exmoor for the first time in 400 years after two adults were successfully reintroduced by the National Trust in January 2020.

Park authorities had an inkling that the pair had successfully mated because the male started dragging more wood and vegetation around their den in late spring. “The female also changed her usual habits, and stayed out of sight, leaving the male to work alone,” said Jack Siviter, one of the rangers on the Holnicote Estate.

How a group of beavers prevented a wildfire and saved California a million dollars, by Graig Graziosi.

Lynnette Batt, the conservation director of the Placer Land Trust, which owns and maintains the land where the floodplain is located, told The Sacramento Bee that she was amazed by the 'awesome' success of the project.

"It went from dry grassland ... to totally revegetated, trees popping up, willows, wetland plants of all types, different meandering stream channels across about 60 acres of floodplain," Ms. Batt said.

Save the bees. Tell your state Legislature to restrict bee-killing pesticides.
Bees are dying off at an unsustainable rate, with serious consequences for our natural world. They play a vital role as pollinators, and losing them would have a devastating ripple effect across all ecosystems. It's urgent we protect our bees by expanding bee habitats and stopping the use of bee-killing pesticides.

Help give bees a chance. Please sign and share this petition: https://environmentnewjersey.org/feature/nje/save-bees

2021 Bear Hunt Update
Great news! The black bear season is closed. On June 21, 2021, New Jersey’s Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy (CBBMP) expired, and as such, there is no black bear hunt in 2021. In accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on September 27, 2007, no black bear hunt may occur without a properly promulgated CBBMP proposed by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council and approved by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

More information on the CBBMP can be found on the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s website: https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/bearseason_info.htm

Our work to permanently protect bears continues. Please stay in the fight.

Young black vulture at cannery
Although this individual is not one of the resident vultures nesting in the cabin barn attic, he/she is likely another resident vulture. While patrolling the south end of the Refuge, we caught a few glimpses of this individual, who eventually paused long enough, allowing us to snap some photos. We have spotted a family in this location previously, though until now they had been too quick for our photography attempts. We can assume that mom and dad were not far from this youngster (see remnants of fuzzy white feathers on his/her head), who likely fledged in the last month or so. (We will keep you updated on our cabin barn attic dwellers; we hope and expect to see fledglings emerge sometime soon.)

Red-spotted purple butterfly along boundary trail
The red-spotted purple is a forest butterfly with an adult wing span of 3 to 3.5 inches. The upper sides of the wings are black and iridescent blue with minor orange spots. The undersides tend to be more brown-black, and blue with more striking orange spots. In the second photo we can see the proboscis, a tubular sucking organ which enables the butterfly to extract nectar from flowers of any shape. Adult butterflies do not possess any chewing mouthparts, and therefore, must obtain their nutrition from sipping liquids. Hydrostatic pressure extends the curled proboscis into a "straw" which is inserted deep into the tubes of flowers. When not being used, a butterfly's proboscis is rolled up out of the way, as we can see with this individual, photographed along the boundary trail near Miller Pond.

Beaver partakes in midday snack of lily pads
Over the course of a few days in late July, we were fortunate to observe some of our resident beavers in the main pond. While our manager Jen and Trustee Dave Sauder were patrolling and assessing the bridge work on the main pond dike, a large adult beaver swam from the pond and crossed under the bridge. A few days later we saw who we believed to be the same individual swimming through the open water, snacking on lily pads, quite close to the viewing area near Headquarters. We would like to think perhaps this was the father of the family, out for a swim, while mom remained back in the lodge nursing kits.

Daisy fleabane grows from uprooted tree
In late spring, while canoeing along the main pond, we spotted this aster species, more specifically a species of daisy fleabane, just starting to bloom. It caught our eye especially because this opportunistic plant was growing out of the underside of an uprooted tree. Fleabane are annual, herbacious plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae). Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, the primary common characteristic is the existence of tiny individual florets, held together in flower heads. What appear to be "petals" of a flower, are actually each individual and complete ray flowers, and the "sun disc" at the center is a dense pack of tiny disc flowers.

Odonata activity on the main pond
Late last month, this photo of two eastern amberwing dragonflies and a skimming bluet damselfly was taken at the main pond. Dragonflies are generally larger, longer, and thicker bodied than damselflies. Amberwings are one of the smallest of the dragonflies, reaching a total length of no more than 1 inch. Like amberwings, skimming bluets are also about 1 inch in length, making them one of the smallest bluets. Although similar in length, there is an obvious difference between the two species in the thickness of their bodies. June and July tend to be the busiest months for dragonfly and damselfly activity, though well into August we are still finding plenty of opportunity to observe and enjoy the members of the order Odonata.

Giant leopard moth at Miller House
The giant leopard moth is a common and easily recognized tiger moth, and is one of the largest tiger moths in eastern North America. They are nocturnal, and males are more commonly attracted to lights at night than females. Adults are white with hollow black (or sometimes iridescent blue) spots on the thorax and black spots on the front wings that may be hollow or solid. Male moths have lighter and thinner spots than females, and are up to 2 inches long with a wingspan up to 3.5 inches, while females are much smaller and no more than 1.25 inches in length. This individual was photographed by the front door of the Miller House, and, based on the scale of the 2.5-inch kick plate, we might estimate that this is a female.

A potpourri of plant life at the Refuge Our diverse habitat provides for a great variety of plants. They range from those that live on the ground, thrive in swamps or in open water to those that make other plants their home. We continue to add to our growing list of photographs, including those of newly identified plants as well for those already in our records, but for which we did not have images. The photos here represent just a few examples of the diversity of species. You can see the full list of the hundreds of species seen at the Refuge in our Plants at the Refuge page on our Web site.

When children have opportunities to observe wildlife, a whole new world of wonder can open up. Let's see what it's like to observe the wildlife at UWR from a kid's perspective.

Beavers by Sylvia Cudrak, age 7
Beavers chew on trees to eat, make homes, and to keep their teeth short. Beavers love to play in the water. Beavers are really good swimmers. When they are scared or in danger they will slap their tails on the water to let other beavers know that there is danger. Beavers eat lily pads, wood, clovers, grass and other stuff. Beavers come out at dusk to start their day. Beavers have really good hearing. Grown-ups can weigh up to 70 pounds and can be up to 3 feet long. Beavers play in a lot of places in a pond.

As part of the vital and globally unique ecosystem that is the Pine Barrens, the Refuge is home to many endangered and threatened species. Please make a pledge to sponsor a Refuge habitat or choose to support one of the species of animals who call this protected land 'home'. You can easily do this through an automatic monthly PayPal donation (you do not need a PayPal account, just a credit card). Go to our Donate page to make your choice and subscribe. Your recurrent donations will be used, as with all our income, to continue protecting the Refuge from harm and allowing the inhabitants to live freely.

Here are your choices:

Wetland habitat: $30.00 Pine forest habitat: $25.00 Bald eagle: $20.00 Beaver kit: $15.00
River otter: $15.00 Eastern box turtle: $15.00 Red fox: $10.00 Your personal favorite: $20.00 All habitats and animals: $60.00

Continuing reminder about helping us help wildlife today
This Refuge, and its nearly 800 acres of rigorously protected habitat, is home and sanctuary for hundreds of animal and plant species; many of the animal species have been here for generations. We depend entirely on the support of our donors for our day-to-day expenses! As we approach the end of the year, we still have not received sufficient donations to cover our nominal budget for the year. We know that you have limited resources and need to consider which of numerous worthwhile causes to support. We hope, however, that you can again find it possible to give us a donation – today – of any amount. We and the wildlife need your support now.

Unexpected Wildlife Refuge
Mailing address: P.O. Box 765, Newfield, New Jersey 08344-0765
Web site: http://unexpectedwildliferefuge.org/
E-mail: info@unexpectedwildliferefuge.org
Telephone: 856.697.3541