opens in a new windowAn Island Refuge in Our Midst | Projects Continue at the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary | By Dr. Lenore Tedesco
As early as the mid-19th century, Stone Harbor gained recogni- tion for large colonial nesting, bird populations – great and snowy egrets, black and yellow crowned night herons, blue and green herons among them. At times, as many as 7, 000 egrets and herons nested and roosted in the trees along the marsh edge in an area of tidal wetlands in the vicinity of 115th Street and Third Avenue. There are early reports of 20-30 nests per tree. This recognition resulted in the official establishment of the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary (SHBS) in 1947. In 1965, SHBS became the first national natural land- mark in New Jersey., The history of the bird sanctuary is well-known by the many residents and visitors to Stone Harbor who worked so hard to protect and preserve the heronry, and then later by those who worked tire- lessly to restore the site with the hopes of [ opens in a new windowread more ]
