Threatened birds and bees discover the new oasis of Swede Run Fields in South Jersey

When volunteers began to restore grasslands, cultivate wildflowers, and create bird habitats at Swede Run Fields four years ago, it seemed as if the only regular avian visitors were Canada geese.

But the Moorestown site, which lies along the Atlantic Flyway, now features open fields of tall grass adjacent to woods and water, and has become an increasingly popular stop for migratory birds, other wildlife, and people, too.

“Now we’ve got ground-nesting grasshopper sparrows, which are threatened in New Jersey,” said Mark Pensiero, president of Save the Environment of Moorestown.

“We’ve got dozens of nests and nine to 12 different species — tree swallows, house wrens, and blue grosbeak,” he said. “This tells me that where there used to be little more than cornstalks and invasive plants, we have created habitats.”

Since 1972, the 100-member nonprofit nicknamed STEM has advocated for land preservation and green-related issues in the 15-square-mile suburban Burlington County township of more than 21,000.

On May 30, New Jersey Audubon announced that STEM is among six recipients statewide of grants from the organization’s Watershed Restoration and Community Engagement Program. The grants are underwritten by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The $40,000 will pay for an environmental analysis of Swede Run that will focus on water quality, soil conditions, and invasive plants, as well as native wildlife and vegetation. The analysis will help STEM set habitat restoration goals and build the organization’s capacity to carry them out, said Kelly Wenzel, New Jersey Audubon’s interim director of stewardship.

“We like STEM’s Swede Run Fields because it is a really solid project that offers great access for the public,” she said.

“A lot of times, smaller organizations don’t have the time or the resources to plan first before applying for larger grants,” Wenzel said. “We’re helping organizations prepare to apply for grants that will get projects done and create some great habitats for wildlife, and for people.”

The township has owned the former Benner farm, a 139-acre tract that straddles Westfield Road in east Moorestown, since 2001. It was rented out for farming until 2019.

As Swede Run Fields — named for the Delaware River tributary running along the edge of the property — the site has public benefits that extend well beyond birds, birders, and bees.

“I walk here almost daily with my dog CeCe,” said Mitchell Kendall, 60, who is retired and lives in nearby Delran.

“I’m disabled and I can walk here comfortably and see turtles — big turtles — as well as deer,” he said. “It’s really something, when you come upon a deer.”

The pollinator garden and fields “are really thriving, and have been absolutely beautiful this spring and summer,” Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said.

Citing the “Bluebird Trail” of boxes built and installed on poles in grasslands by STEM volunteers, she said the township is “so grateful to them for creating this wonderful addition to Moorestown.”

Pensiero said Swede Run Fields is very much a collaborative effort that relies on the dedication of STEM members such as Barbara Rich, one of the organization’s founders.

“It’s our pride and joy, and a tremendous accomplishment, done with the cooperation of other people who have preservation as a goal,” she said.

Like Pensiero, Rich also praised the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners program, calling it “an amazing group of people who wanted Swede Run Fields to be preserved as much as we did.”

Mark Virgilio, New Jersey coordinator of the program, said STEM has been “a very willing and enthusiastic partner in the process of converting that old farmland into a very good migratory bird habitat.”

He also said some “adaptive management” on the western field where decades of farming smoothed out the sites of vernal pools — transient but recurring bodies of water — would provide habitats for amphibians, fish, and other critters.

Pensiero said the township mows the fields, based on federal guidelines, and maintains the two-mile walking trail that loops through the property. The Historical Society of Moorestown helped in a campaign to raise $24,000 to replace the roof on a modest, rough-hewn building made of local ironstone that is sole structure on the site.

» READ MORE: Iconic barn to survive with help of Moorestown community

A 1,500-square-foot Pollinator Garden now surrounds the structure; it was planted and is maintained by local volunteers. The first 1,100 seed-starting “plugs” planted in 2021 were donated by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, in Portland, Ore.

Butterfly milkweed, wild bergamot, and black-eyed Susans are among the vividly hued flowers in the garden, which is designed to bloom from May to October. The plants are hardy, prefer lots of sunshine, generally need little watering, and attract “dozens of native bee species, plus hummingbirds “and migrating birds who eat insects,” Pensiero said.

“And in July or August the Monarch butterflies start to arrive,” he said.

On the other side of Westfield Road from the stone building and the pollinator garden, the 75-acre field also is seeded with wildflowers. An explosion of brilliant yellow and gold coreopsis flowers lasted much of June and had motorists pulling over to take photos, said Pensiero.

Longtime STEM member Harry Mayer said Swede Run Fields also demonstrate the community’s response to development pressures of the sort that have transformed many other areas of east Moorestown.

“If we keep building, the animals have no place to go. So Swede Run provides a habitat [despite] all the encroaching developments going on. People are even seeing beavers coming back,” the 62-year-old contractor said.

A retired L3 executive who is 68 and grew up in Moorestown, Pensiero is encouraged by the public interest and support. There’s plenty of work to do: Left to their own devices, invasive species such as sweet gum trees and Japanese honeysuckle vines will turn the grasslands into monocultures.

“It’s a constant battle. We have to keep managing this habitat,” he said. “But it’s so rewarding to see the place evolve over time. Recently, I saw an Eastern meadowlark come over. It’s a grasslands, meadow-dependent species, and it was the first time I’d seen one here. Something like that never gets old.”