• Home
  • About
    • History of STEM
    • Advocacy & Outreach
    • Officer Information
    • Contact Us
    • Calendar
  • Preserved Open Spaces
  • News
  • Natural Area Care
  • Membership
  • Scholarship
  • Articles
    • Newsletter Archive
Save the Environment of Moorestown
  • Home
  • About
    • History of STEM
    • Advocacy & Outreach
    • Officer Information
    • Contact Us
    • Calendar
  • Preserved Open Spaces
  • News
  • Natural Area Care
  • Membership
  • Scholarship
  • Articles
    • Newsletter Archive
Preparing Our Pollinator Gardens for Winter
October, 2021

As many of you are aware, STEM recently installed a beautiful native pollinator garden adjacent to the dog park at Swedes Run. This garden is home to around 1,300 plants spread among ten species. The garden was a great success, drawing in countless pollinators, including many monarch butterflies who fed at the garden and then laid eggs on the common milkweed and butterfly weed plants. They in turn were followed by many monarch caterpillars – and the cycle continues. Now as we enter the fall, the blooms are fading, and soon there will be no new blooms to replace the fading ones.
We all like the look of an uncluttered and tidy garden. Many of us (myself included) are in the habit of cleaning up our pollinator gardens in preparation of winter. Typically, this includes cutting off the dead flowers or cutting off the plant stems at the ground. I certainly understand the desire we have to clean up our garden after flowers have faded and. Shriveled brown leaves, blossoms and stems are not as appealing as the bright flowers that dominate summer and fall. However, they are beneficial to the many overwintering pollinators.  
Many beneficial pollinators overwinter in gardens, using plants and debris that are left behind to survive the winter. If you have a pollinator garden with native species that help pollinators during the summer and fall, please leave them standing to provide cover for pollinators through the winter.

  • Don’t cut back the dried stalks of perennials (milkweed is a perennial).
  • Don’t pull up dead annuals or weeds. They’ll trap whatever leaves blow by, creating their own enriching mulch while shielding insects.
  • Don’t install a deep layer of mulch, which could block the insects’ escape in spring.
  • Don’t disturb bare soil where many wild bee species, including bumblebees, overwinter in small nests.
  • Do consider planting a cover crop to protect small animals and insects.
  • Do add new perennials including bulbs, trees and shrubs at a time when fall moisture can help establish their root systems.
  • Do delay tilling or — better yet — don’t till at all​
Various species of butterflies and moths can survive winter by hiding under garden debris, others are active during the winter months, some overwinter as a chrysalis and a few can survive as caterpillars.
​

These species hibernate under bark and dried leaves:
  • Mourning cloak butterflies
  • Comma butterflies
  • Question mark butterflies

These species overwinter as a chrysalis:
  • Cabbage white butterflies
  • Sulphur butterflies
  • Members of the swallowtail family
  • Hawk moths spend the winter in warm cocoons underground.
​
These species survive as caterpillars:
  • Red-spotted purple butterflies
  • Meadow fritillary butterflies
  • Viceroy butterflies hibernate among the vegetation, in seed pods, in silken nests and in rolled-up leaves.
Picture
Although they are often overlooked because they don’t have colonies, solitary bees pollinate more efficiently than honeybees. During the winter, many of them hide in the hollow stems of bee balm or ornamental grasses. Others burrow into the ground to overwinter or make use of man-made bee hotels.

  • Red mason bees spend the winter as young adults in an unanimated state inside their nest. They build nests in dry hollow stems, in holes in wood and in bee hotels.
  • Leaf cutter bees. These bees are another cavity nester. They overwinter bee larvae in nesting holes until next summer.
  • Mason bees. These bees are also cavity nesters. They overwinter in hollow reeds and stems with holes around 3/8-inch in diameter. they will also use nesting blocks, with the correct size holes and bee hotels.
​
There are more than 400 ladybug beetles species in North America that feed on common garden pests — aphids, mites, white flies and scale insects. One ladybug can eat a dozen insects a day, so gardeners and farmers love them. Although invasive species, such as Asian lady beetles, often find their way into homes and become pests, native species only overwinter outside. They rely on cover under rocks, in hollow logs and beneath leaves to survive until spring.

Wasps, ants and midges — a small two-winged fly — are other beneficial pollinators that overwinter.

Do your garden and pollinators a favor and wait until April to rid your flower beds of wilted plants and debris. The pollinators that live there will thank you by ridding your garden of pests and ensuring beautiful blooms in the spring.
Remembering Debbie Lord
October, 2020

It is with a heavy heart that STEM reports the passing of Debbie Lord, a former long - term STEM and Steering Committee member.  Formerly of Moorestown, Deb has recently resided in Maine with her beloved husband Craig.

Deb was a gifted naturalist.  Her knowledge of the natural world was incredibly broad.  She was a trained scientist with degrees in both geology and hydrology. When you took a walk with Deb, you were bound to learn something new! Deb could talk about the material that made up the trail that you were walking on, the stream you were walking along, the birds that were signing in the trees, the frogs croaking in the wetlands, and the bugs that were buzzing around your head. The list could go on and on.

Deb was also a gifted educator.  She liked nothing better than to have her hip waders on while dragging a net through the waters of her beloved Pompeston Creek, and then showing a group of wide eyed children (and adults) the critters that she had scooped up.  Deb taught countless young people about the mystery and majesty of the natural world.  In addition to her work with STEM, Deb was also involved with the Pompeston Creek Watershed Association and the Palmyra Cove Nature Center.  Before moving to Maine, Deb also taught science at Moorestown Friends School.

I was also blessed to call Debbie a friend for over 40 years. We had many wonderful walks and trips together.  Over the years we walked the wilds of Pompeston Creek, waded through the sands of the NJ Pine Barrens, watched Eagles harass Ospreys at Black Water National Wildlife Refuge, camped on the beach at Assateague National Wildlife Refuge, and crashed through the brush of her beloved Maine.

As I write this I am filled with great sadness, a sadness that is somewhat softened by the blessing that she was in my life and the lives of so many others.

Mark Pensiero
STEM President
Picture
Picture
Picture
New Spring Bird Sightings
May 20, 2020

Greetings to all, and I hope you are staying sane. With bird migration in our area in full swing, I thought I’d provide a brief update on new bird sightings. Since my last report, I have added another 23 species. This brings the total species count up to 97. 100 is so close I can almost taste it! 
Here are some of the great birds recently spotted:
  • Hooded Warbler – Only seen once in Susan Steven Halbe Preserve on 5/1.
  • Canada Warbler – South Valley Woods on 5/15 and 5/19.
  • Bay Breasted Warbler – Waterworks Woods and Pompeston on multiple days starting on 5/13.
  • Black Throated Green Warbler – South Valley Woods on 5/5 and Waterworks Woods on 5/13.
  • Scarlet Tanager – Multiple sightings at Waterworks Woods, Pompeston, South Valley Woods, and my backyard.
  • Baltimore Oriole – Multiple sightings at multiple locations; Farago, Waterworks Woods, Little Woods, Swede Run, South Valley Woods, and my backyard.
  • Indigo Bunting – 3 males visited my yard for the day on 5/1. What a treat.
  • Great Horned Owl - Owlet and parent at Little Woods on 5/1.
Strawbridge Lake/Waterworks Woods leads the count with 61 species. That was expected as it covers the broadest range of habitats. Second place is my backyard with 52 species. Not surprising as I spend more time there than anywhere – especially now. Pompeston is third with 41 species. Esther Yanai Preserve and South Valley Woods are tied at 37.
Some folks have asked if I took the pictures that were shown with the prior article. I can’t take credit for the photos – it is hard enough for me to find the birds, and half the time they are identified by ear. 

​I did take the above picture of the Indigo Bunting. Photographed though my living room window by holding my phone up to spotting scope. 

There is still plenty of good birding left.

I hope to see you outside.
Mark Pensiero
Spring Migration in Moorestown
April 30th, 2020

Spring migration is well under way and I have been getting out often to see how many species of birds I can tally in Moorestown. My focus is on Moorestown’s open spaces but my eyes are always open as I travel around town. As of 4/30 I have tallied 74 species of birds in town.

Coming in first place is my own backyard where I have seen 39 species. The “best” bird I have seen in the yard was an Orchard Oriole (above), which was also a first on my yard list. My lifetime yard list is now at 108 species. I am also happy to report that Catbirds and the Ruby Throated Hummingbird are back in the yard.

Some of the other good birds spotted so far are:
  • Six Wood Ducks at Strawbridge Lake (4/30). Two pairs and two individual males.
  • Multiple Savannah Sparrows at Swede Run Fields (4/30)
  • Black throated blue warbler - Pompeston (4/29).
  • Chestnut sided warbler - Pompeston (4/29).
  • Wood thrush - Pompeston and behind my house (4/29).
  • Northern Parula - Pompeston (4/29).
  • Pileated Woodpecker - Esther Yanai Preserve (4/9)
  • Purple Martins – nesting at the dead end of Chestnut Street and the Moorestown Field Club. I have lived most of my life and town and I had no idea there were a colony of Purple Martins in town.  Found them by chance on a morning walk.​
Second place after my own backyard is a tie between Strawbridge Lake/Waterworks Woods and Esther Yanai at 33 species. Pompeston has 31 species, tallied on a single morning (4/29). Swede Run is third with 25 species.

I tallied 12 species at Boundary Creek, but that was a ten-minute walk through right before they closed the park. I have yet to get out to Farago Field, Little Woods, Susan Halbe Stevens. I did a quick walk through at South Valley, but not focused on birding.

As you can see there are plenty of birds to see right in our own town!

Hope to see you outside.
Mark
Moorestown’s Co-Citizens of the Year: ​David Hess and Debbie Browning Hess
by Margo Foster
​

Moorestown’s Service Club Council honored David Hess and Debbie Browning Hess as Co-Citizens of the Year at the COY Dinner at the Moorestown Community House on February 6, 2019.

The couple live at and run the Browning-Hess Farm on Lenola Road, established in 1898. Their farm has been preserved through their intentions to preserve land and the farming tradition in Moorestown, and from the Burlington County Farm Preservation program.

Active members of the community, David and Debbie volunteered over the years in various school programs, as Indian guides, and by coaching recreational sports teams as they raised their children. From the bounty of their farm, they have made donations of food for the needy, flowers, and even bales of straw for STEM’s annual fall festival, STEM Steps Out.

​Both of them have served on various committees and organizations in town over the years, such as the Moorestown Open Space Advisory Committee (Debbie), and Sustainable Moorestown (David, one of its founding members) and they attend most of the Town Council meetings. 
Rutgers Gardens Director Speaks
​at Joint Meeting

by Margo Foster
​

The Moorestown Garden Club hosted the Annual Joint Meeting at the Moorestown Library on February 28, 2019, featuring speaker Bruce Crawford, Director of Rutgers Gardens.

Crawford presented his topic “Environmentally Friendly Gardens—Sustainability in the Home Garden” accompanied with slides, in a lively, conversational manner. The design of a sustainable garden considers summer cooling (shade trees), winter protection (e.g., a coniferous windbreak), water conservation, and biodiversity, among other factors. Crawford suggested using detritus (decaying leaves, sticks, and stems of herbaceous plants) as mulch to allow for water to penetrate. Commonly used shredded wood products look neat, but often knit together so tightly that water flow is hampered.

The Annual Joint Meeting is presented early in the year, hosted on a rotating basis by one of these participating groups: STEM, Moorestown Garden Club, Historical Society of Moorestown, and the Pompeston Creek Watershed Association.

​To visit the gardens, information is available at rugardens@njaes.rutgers.edu.
"Drawdown" Workshops Address Climate Change Issues

The Pachamama Alliance hosted a series of five Saturday workshops from January 19 to February 2 at the Moorestown Library—STEM was the local sponsor. The purpose of the workshop was to introduce participants to ways they might engage the public in a discussion about climate change issues and give them ways to include sustainable lifestyle choices in their everyday lives. 

"Drawdown is that point in time at which greenhouse gases peak and begin to decline on a year-to-year basis." —Paul Hawken

“Drawdown—the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming,” a New York Times bestselling book, edited by Paul Hawken was used as the resource for this workshop. The book is the result of Project Drawdown, ​a compilation of research and data from experts in climate and environmental fields. The goal of the project was to identify, measure, and model 100 substantive solutions to determine how much could be accomplished by 2050. The resource is organized into seven sectors and each sector offers solutions on how to begin the reduction of greenhouse gases in order to reverse global warming. Pachamama Alliance’s Marty and June led workshop participants through a series of exercises intended to get each attendee to focus on an area of interest and to create a project that would allow them to interact with the community to effect change. 

"We see global warming not as an inevitability but as an invitation to build, innovate, and effect change—a pathway that awakens creativity, compassion, and genius. This is not a liberal agenda, nor is it a conservative one. This is the human agenda."—Paul Hawken
Picture

















​Image above is “Vertumnus” by the painter Guiseppe Arcimboldo, created in 1590-91. It appears on page 38 of “Drawdown,“ used to symbolize a plant-rich diet—one of the ​book’s solution descriptions. ​

PictureEastern Towee
Moorestown Christmas Bird Count

​December 22, 2019

After missing the count over the last couple of years, I was able to participate in this year’s Moorestown count. My partner was Sue Buffalino, a fellow birder and a STEM Director. As in prior years, the area we covered was “Region 3”, which basically falls within the borders of Moorestown Township. All Christmas Bird Counts cover an area formed by a seven-mile radius. If my math is correct, each count circle covers an area of approximately 154 square, hence the desire to break count circles into multiple regions.

​The purpose of the count is to tally as many birds as possible– both species and numbers. This data is added into the other regions within the circle to arrive at the total for the circle. This data is collected across the many US count circles. While it is fun to spend a day outdoors and see as many birds as you can, the main purpose of the count is to provide data so scientists can ascertain trends for bird populations and locations over a period of time. The winter is a great time to do the count as many species of birds head south to their winter locations across North America.


​Sue and I started the count at around 7 am in my backyard. After tallying the expected suspects, song and white-throated sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay and cardinal, we headed off to our next spot – Strawbridge Lake and WW Woods. At the lake we saw great blue heron and belted kingfisher. As expected we also tallied mallard ducks and lots of Canada geese. In the undeveloped lot bordering Kings Highway and Haines Drive we saw our only yellow rumped warbler of the day, along with our first golden crowned kinglet.

PictureBufflehead
WW Woods was pretty quiet, so we moved on to the Pennsauken Creek by Lew’s Farm on Lenola Road. We added black ducks to our count, and also had a flyby by a mature bald eagle. A short distance up Lenola Road, we stopped at a peach orchard, where I had a kestrel in a prior count. No kestrel this year, but we had three mature bald eagles soaring together. This was an amazing sight, and one that could only have been imagined a few years ago. 

​After a brief walk through Pompeston Woods, where we saw 5 eastern towhees, we headed over Swede Runs field. This can be a great area for sparrows and this year we had chipping, field, song, fox, and swamp sparrows. We were also treated to another bald eagle flyover. We finished up the day at Boundary Creek Park where we had a single bufflehead duck and a small group of common mergansers in the Rancocas, along with another belted kingfisher.
​​

PictureFox Sparrow
All told for the day we tallied 46 species of birds. While we never were able to get a hairy woodpecker we saw six bald eagles. The Moorestown CBC tallied a total of 97 species. Overall it was a great day. Moorestown has some great spots for bird watching and we are blessed to have so many preserved spaces that are available for our enjoyment while providing critical habitat for our fine, feathered friends.

- Mark Pensiero, STEM Vice-President

​

Happy Mulching!
Winter, 2019
​
Spring is coming, but before you put on your gardening gloves, the Moorestown Tree Planting and Preservation Committee would like to remind residents of good mulching practices around trees.

Mulch should never be piled up against the tree trunk. Mulching in a “volcano” shape can make the tree more susceptible to fungus, insects, and rodents. It can cause root girdling which can weaken the stability of the tree. Instead mulch in a “donut” shape. Keep mulch 6 inches from the trunk and mulch out as far as the branches extend above. Keep the mulch 2-4” thick. Each spring, break up old mulch and add new to maintain a 2-4” layer.

If your property is maintained by a landscaping/lawn service, please share this reminder with them!

​Properly applied mulch provides these benefits:
• Prevents soil compaction
• Retains water in the soil for tree roots
• Keeps lawn equipment from damaging the trunk
• Moderates temperature
• Reduces competing vegetation
• Provides nutrients to the tree as it breaks down

​Think of the mulch as a life preserver for your trees! Don’t choke them by piling up mulch against the trunk of the trees.
​Happy Mulching!
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
    • History of STEM
    • Advocacy & Outreach
    • Officer Information
    • Contact Us
    • Calendar
  • Preserved Open Spaces
  • News
  • Natural Area Care
  • Membership
  • Scholarship
  • Articles
    • Newsletter Archive