Medford Leas Birders

View or Download a slideshow: Winter Birds of Medford Leas

The Medford Leas Birders hold monthly meetings, organize field trips, and provide a yearly January census of birds found on the two campuses of Medford Leas in Lumberton and Medford, New Jersey. Medford Leas and the Lewis W. Barton Arboretum and Nature Preserve comprise over 250 acres of varied habitats, including wooded tracts, Rancocas Creek and tributary streams, and managed meadows.

Normally, we meet September through June in the Linden Room of the Medford Leas Community Building at 10:30 AM on the first Tuesday of the month. We have presentations, either by an outside speaker or by our members, or sometimes share videos about birds.

Our field trips may be long (most of a day) or short (back by lunch). All field trips leave from the Medford Leas Community Building, usually at 8 AM. Friends are welcome.

Downloads:

Calendar of ML Birders field trips and programs
Historical checklist of birds seen on both the Medford and Lumberton campuses
A New Jersey field card to keep sighting records
Slide show: Winter Birds of Medford Leas (PDF) by Dino Fiabane
Slide show: Winter counts at Medford and beyond (PDF) by Laurie Larson

We have participated in the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Feeder Watch and Great Backyard Bird Count programs, the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, and our own winter censuses for many years. We erect and maintain bluebird boxes in the meadows. We encourage the Horticulture Department at Medford Leas to plant native shrubs and trees for fruit and habitats for birds of this area, to preserve dead trees to provide food and nesting areas for birds, and to schedule mowing of the meadows in early spring to encourage the bluebird population. Visit the bluebird page for the most recent project, and use the “Reports” menu link above for our other census data.

Upcoming Events

February 2025

Tue, Feb 4

10:30 am – 11:30 am: ML Birders: Bird Communication
Tue, Feb 4
10:30 am – 11:30 am
ML Birders: Bird Communication
Holly Room
All living organisms have some ability to communicate with their own species and many, especially higher life forms, with other species. Vocal communication is very prevalent in many species including birds using songs and calls. Our speaker, Burlington County Naturalist Jennifer Bulava, will present a program on Bird Communication for our February meeting. She will look at the calls and songs used by birds as well as social interactions and dynamic body language or visual displays. Are communications confined within their own species. or can birds of different species communicate with each other? How can an understanding of how birds communicate help us become better birders? Jennifer will help answer these questions and many more in this fascinating aspect of birding.

This is a re-scheduling of our October 3, 2024 meeting.