Field Trips

Field Trips to local birding “Hot Spots” and beyond

Experienced birders from WCAS lead regular birding field trip to some of the region’s top birding hotspots in Central New Jersey, the Delaware Water Gap, Delaware Bay, the New Jersey shore, and eastern Pennsylvania. Field trips are free, open to the public, and most require no advance registration. Participants of all experience levels are welcome. If there are field trips you would like to see added to WCAS field trip offerings, please feel free to contact us.

For more field trip information, contact our Field Trip Chair, Brad Merritt, [email protected] If the trip is co-sponsored, please note the registration request in the trip description. In case of inclement weather, please check this website or contact Brad for field trip cancellation updates by 10:00 p.m. the night before.

Check our Event Calendar below for details and contact information

• Abbott Marshlands A field trip on Saturday, April 24, at 8:00AM, led by Brad Merritt and John Maret. Roebling Park is a Mercer County park in the Abbott Marshlands. We plan to walk the trails in search of spring migrants. For additional information, contact Brad Merritt at 609-921-8964. Directions: Take South Broad St. to Sewell Ave. turn onto Sewell at traffic light; at road’s end, turn left and continue downhill to parking lot. For additional outings that complement WCAS, see abbottmarshlands.org. Co-sponsor with Friends for the Abbott Marshlands. Due to COVID-19 concerns, PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. For the safety of all, participants must wear face coverings and social distancing will be observed.
• *** CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN FORECAST for Sunday, April 25 *** Fireman’s Eddy (D&R Canal State Park south of Lambertville) A field trip on Sunday, April 25, at 8:00 AM, led by Juanita Hummel. This field, bisected by a row of trees and bounded by the canal and the Delaware River, was restored as native grasslands. The combination of wooded riparian habitat, edge habitat and meadows mean that a large variety of birds may be seen here, including early warblers, swallows, bluebirds, grassland sparrows, raptors and wood ducks. To register contact Brad Merritt at 609-921-8964 and email [email protected]for parking directions. Co-sponsored with the D&R Canal State Park. Due to COVID-19 concerns, PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. For the safety of all, participants must wear face coverings and social distancing will be observed.
• Assunpink Wildlife Management Area A field trip on Saturday, June 5, at 8:00 AM led by John Maret. We will seek resident birds, such as blue grosbeaks, orchard orioles, and cedar waxwings, and butterflies. Directions: East on I-195 to exit 11, Imlaystown. North on Imlaystown Road 2.6 miles to parking area at Lake Assunpink.
  For more information, email: [email protected]
  Assunpink GPS Coordinates: 40.215254, -74.516866
  Due to COVID-19 concerns, PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED with prevailing COVID guidelines in effect.

• Washington Crossing State Park A field trip on Saturday, June 12 at 8:30 AM, led by Wayne Henderek and Franta Broulik. We will walk trails looking for spring migrants and resident birds in wooded areas and adjacent fields.  For more information, email: [email protected]
  Washington Crossing State Park
  355 Washington Crossing Pennington Rd, Titusville, NJ 08560, USA
  GPS Coordinates: 40.313753, -74.862957
  Directions: Off Washington Crossing–Pennington Road in Titusville. Follow signs to the Nature Center parking lot.
  Due to COVID-19 concerns, PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED with prevailing COVID guidelines in effect.

Birdathon ’21! The Big Day is Saturday,  May 15th, but events will be happening throughout the month of May!

Get outdoors and bird to help raise money for WCAS’s education, research and conservation efforts!

• Our “Big Day” this year is Saturday MAY 15 and this is your chance to compete for the 1st Annual WCAS Cup!  To enter, register yourself or your team and find as many species of birds as you can between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm on May 15th in the NJ counties that are completely or partly within our chapter area – Mercer, Hunterdon, Somerset and Burlington. Feel free to ask family and friends to sponsor you or your team with pledges per species seen to spur you on to greater effort! Minimum requested donation to register $25.
• NEW! Family Weekend Challenge: gather family and friends and go birding wherever you happen to be on May 15 and/or 16th —your backyard, neighborhood park or even Grandma’s house! Email us your list of the birds you were able to identify and the ages of any children under 13 in the party. Min. requested donation $10
• Prizes will be awarded for Most Bird Species Identified and Most MoneyRaised for WCAS for those who have pre-registered in each event. You may also register by regular mail — WCAS, P.O. Box 112, Pennington, NJ 08534-0112.
• DIY: Just want to spend a relaxed few hours birding by yourself or with friends? We still want your bird list for May 15th!  Go out on your own or with a team and ask your friends and family to support your efforts with a donation or per-species pledge. Email your list to [email protected]  Remit collected donations through the secure Donation sign-up link in this email or mail a check to WCAS, P.O. Box 112, Pennington, NJ 08525 by June 1.  Thank you!

Join a special small-group guided walk on 5/15 — Covid guidelines will be observed:

• South Hunterdon Birding with Juanita Hummel on 5/15 – only a few spots left. Join for all or part of the day, AM or PM.  The complete itinerary will be emailed to participants before the event.  Min. requested donation $25. For more information email [email protected] 

• Mercer Meadows including the Pole Farm on 5/15 at 7:30 AM lead by Pole Farm grassland birds monitor Jim Myers. Park at the Maidenhead Trail parking lot on Keefe Road (just past Federal City Road) at 7:30 am on Saturday. Min. requested donation $25. For more information email [email protected]

• DONATE ONLY or submit collected pledges:  Even if you can’t participate in one of our events on May 15th, please consider making a donation.  “Sign up” to donate using the secure donation slot in this email up until June 1. Alternatively, you can mail a check to WCAS, P.O. Box 112, Pennington, NJ 08534-0112.  Thank you for your support – it means everything to us!

SIGN UP FOR BIRDATHON NOW!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/birdathon

UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS
(details to come)

• Sat, Jun 5, 2021 8 AM Assunpink Leader – John Maret, Brad Merritt     (15)
• Sat. Jun 12, 2021 830AM       Washington Crossing Leader- W. Henderek, Franta Broulik
• Sat. Jun 19, 2021 8AM Pole Farm?
• Sat. Aug. 14, 2021 9 AM Forsythe NWR (Brig) Leader – Brad Merritt (15)
• Sat. Aug 28, 2021 9AM Allentown Sod Farms Leader – Brad Merritt (15)

We are looking for additional team leaders—naturalists who can head out into the field and lead a small group of members and friends around your favorite natural location(s). We’ll help coordinate your team and support donation collection. If you would like to volunteer or lead a team, please email Juanita Hummel or Brad Merritt at [email protected]

Click on calendar entries below for field trip locations. Clicking on the field trip you wish to join will bring open up the trip’s details including a Google Map and GPS coordinates. You may also visit our birding “Hot Spots” page for a map of local hot spots.