New Jersey Pinelands Commission

Huge news!

These three native painted turtles were photographed basking on a log in a former cranberry bog in the Pinelands on March 10, 2025.

Happy Turtle Tuesday! With temperatures possibly soaring into the 70s next week, will we see turtles basking in the Pinelands, as we saw these beauties at the same time last year? 🤔. We'll be looking. Please let us know what you see! 🐢 🌎 🌞

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

#turtles

A Cooper's hawk flies off while clutching a bird -- likely a female cardinal -- in its talons. The hawk flew away with its prey into the snow-covered forest.

A Cooper's hawk looks down at the bird that it has grabbed, and the bird's beak is open while looking back up at the hawk.

Cooper's hawks primarily eat birds.

A native Cooper's hawk stands over a bird it snatched from a tree, with the bird pinned into the snow.

New views of a Cooper's hawk that snatched a bird from a tree in Wharton State Forest in the New Jersey Pinelands. Caution: these images may be upsetting. 🐦 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

#birds #nature #wildlifephotography

Turning the page on our 2026 Pinelands National Reserve wall calendar ...

Happy March in the New Jersey Pinelands! We're excited to defrost and inch ever closer to seeing spring flowers and turtles, frogs, snakes and other critters. 🌳 🐢 🐸 🐍 🌼

📷: Paul Leakan, Pinelands Commission Communications Officer

#March #trees #nature

All of the photos were captured from a distance with a 600 mm lens. Have you seen a river otter this year?

Feasting primarily on aquatic wildlife, river otters can be four feet long (tail included), weigh 11 - 30 pounds, and run up to 15 miles an hour, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

The North American river otter is a member of the mustelid or weasel family and is a “predator at the top of the food chain in the waterways of New Jersey,” according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

OTTER THIS WORLD: New photos of a North American river #otter swimming and fishing in a lake in the #NewJersey #Pinelands. You otter know how excited I am to see this exceedingly cute, robust, semi-aquatic, elusive, native critter! 🦦 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

#wildlifephotography #nature

That Friday feeling, as expressed by a tufted titmouse in the New Jersey Pinelands. Nice work, my feathered friend. Who's excited for the weekend? 🐦

📷: Paul Leakan, Pinelands Commission Communications Officer

#birdphotography #njstateparks #fridayVibes #wildlife #nature

Pinelands Commission Policy & Implementation Committee Meeting - February 27, 2026 YouTube video by Pinelands Commission

The Pinelands Commission's Policy & Implementation Committee will hold its regular meeting at 9:30 a.m. today (February 27, 2026). Tap here to livestream the meeting:

www.youtube.com/live/Aj9yLpd...

On average, the Pinelands receives a total of approximately 47 inches of precipitation each year, including rain and melted snow. The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system that lies beneath the Pinelands contains an estimated 17 trillion gallons of water, or enough water to cover all of NJ 10 feet deep.

LET IT MELT: Here's a new view of ice melting on a twig while being illuminated by sunlight in Wharton State Forest in the #NewJersey #Pinelands. As it melts, snow gradually seeps into the ground and recharges the aquifer system in the Pinelands. ❄️ 🌳 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

BACK TO BATSTO: Scenes from today's quick excursion at historic Batsto Village in Wharton State Forest in the #NewJersey #Pinelands. The snow from this week's blizzard is melting, albeit slowly. 🐦 ❄️ 🌳 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

#batsto #birds #history

Happy Waterfowl Wednesday! Here's a new photo of a male Northern pintail #duck foraging beside mallard ducks in a former cranberry bog in the #NewJersey #Pinelands. 🦆❤️ ☮️ 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, Pinelands Commission Communications Officer

#birdphotography #nature

Last year, I started to see painted turtles at several sites in the Pinelands by the first week of March. I photographed a snapping turtle and numerous spotted turtles by the third week of March. I'll be out and about to see if it happens again this year.

Happy #Turtle Tuesday! Given the blizzard and the lingering mounds of snow, it can be hard to imagine that warmer, turtle-y days lie ahead and could be here soon. These photos were taken in the Pinelands on March 16, 2025. 🐢 🌎

📷: Paul Leakan, NJPC

#turtles #wildlife #NaturePhotography

Happy Squirrel Sunday! Here's a new photo of an eastern gray squirrel clinging to a tree at Cloverdale Farm County Park in the New Jersey Pinelands. ❤️

📷: Paul Leakan, Pinelands Commission Communications Officer

#squirrel #squirrels #wildlife

It was very likely in search of an easy meal, as Cooper's hawks primarily eat birds, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

SUPER COOPER: Here are new photos of a Cooper's #hawk perched on a fence located next to a station of birdfeeders at a park in the #NewJersey #Pinelands, as captured from a distance with a long lens. 🐦

📷: Paul Leakan, Pinelands Commission Communications Officer

#birds #bird