Dedicated to the conservation of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County, NJ
Friends’ Nature Shop
The Friends operate a Nature Shop located in the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center. The shop is managed and staffed entirely by volunteers. All proceeds from Nature Shop sales are used to fund a variety of projects and programs that benefit the refuge and refuge visitors.
The Nature Shop is open during visitor center hours:
Thursday – Friday, Noon – 4 p.m., Saturday – Sunday, 10 – 4 p.m. Credit cards are accepted.
Friends members receive a 10% discount on purchases.
We carry the Junior Refuge Manager Activity Book which sells for $1.00 and our volunteers or refuge staff can certify completed pages and award the Junior Refuge Manager badge upon completion of the Activity Book.
Original Wildlife Art
Local potter Judy Schmidt hand paints her pottery with images of birds and wildlife that she sees in the swamp. Selections change frequently and include a variety of mugs and unique pottery items.
2005 winner of the national Arts for the Parks Competition, Ron Orlando of Wildlife Art Studios in Basking Ridge has a selection of framed and unframed limited edition prints. We are also the exclusive source for original Ron Orlando screen-printed tees and sweatshirts.
Local artist Marjorie Impell works magic with beads and wire as demonstrated by our wide selection of fabulous earrings. We also have a number of Marjorie’s bird and butterfly prints, both framed and unframed, for sale.
Common Yellowthroat
Photographer Blaine Rothauser of Natural Eyes has created a selection of awe-inspiring photo note cards, many of which depict wildlife and natural scenes from the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge where Blaine spends a great deal of his spare time.
Check out the wide array of nature photos by Steve Byland. Spectacular bird photos predominate, but he also has captured awesome pictures of frogs, turtles, snakes, and other wildlife found at Great Swamp. These full-color photos are very reasonably priced, matted, and ready to pop in a standard sized frame.
Books, Gifts, Stuff for kids, and more!
Field guides for kids and adults: We stock a wide selection of field guides for our geographic area covering mammals, amphibians and reptiles, wildflowers, trees, butterflies and dragonflies, and of course bird guides. We have a selection of CD audio guides to help you learn bird songs and DVDs to help you with identification.
We also carry a number of natural history books on a variety of subjects and new books are added frequently. Our children’s book section is chock full of fabulous, colorful nature books on every subject including our own Great Swamp A to Z Coloring Book.
Gifts, Puzzles, Note Cards, Jewelry – all with a nature theme are available. We have New Jersey honey, honey combs, honey candy, and the ever popular honey straws. We’ve just restocked our Endangered Species chocolate — chocolate bars, dark chocolate covered cranberries and cashews, and “bug bites” in dark and milk chocolate. Enjoy them even more knowing that 10% of net profits support conservation efforts.
Great Swamp Gift Items: To remind you of your visit, to add to your collection, or to take home as a gift.
We have Great Swamp pins and patches, key chains, magnets, “green” water bottles. We also have tees
and sweatshirts, polo and denim shirts, and hats — all bearing the Great Swamp designation.
We carry the official “Blue Goose Passport” — and can stamp yours if you already
have one. A new addition is a 4GB,
blue goose USB flash drive! For the person who has everything!
Just for Kids! We carry an assortment of nature-themed toys and games, 40 to 1,000 piece puzzles, coloring books, mood rings, jewelry, stuffed animals, stickers and sticker books, and lots more for kids all ages.
Federal Duck Stamp: We sell the federal duck stamp—an annual pass to national wildlife refuges nationwide. Proceeds from duck stamps fund the purchase of land for national wildlife refuges.