The original Raccoon Ridge Bird
Observatory was started in 1973 by Dorothy (Dot) Hughes. Dot named the
Observatory after the
1750s Swedish settlement Raccoon on the Delaware River, where the first
bird sightings were recorded in New Jersey. Raccoon Ridge Bird Observatory was
the first bird observatory in New Jersey, and one of only five in the country at
that time.
During the next 15 years, Raccoon Ridge Bird
Observatory banded thousands of passerine birds, instructed dozens of interns
and volunteers, hosted banding seminars and field trips, operated four satellite
banding stations in NJ; rehabilitated hundreds of wild animals and birds;
presented programs to thousands of school children and private organizations;
cooperated in several scientific studies; produced trail guides for the State
Parks and Recreation Areas; sponsored spring and fall Hawk Watches; and in
general, became a well-known fixture in Sussex County.
Banding Headquarters
 One
of the first banding locations for RRBO was the "Stone House" in the Delaware Water Gap
National Recreation Area, near Walpack Center, provided by the National Park
Service.
The huge historical stone building provided living
quarters, room for the growing library, classrooms, and of course, the banding
lab. This building is now the
District Ranger Station. However, due to high hunter-traffic in the fall
and the costs of maintaining such a large, old building, RRBO relocated to the
Old Mine Road Youth Hostel in the late 1970s.
RRBO shared another "first" as a bird
observatory at the youth hostel: the first bird observatory in the world was located in a youth
hostel on the German Island of Heligoland, started by a teacher who brought his
students there to study birds and record their findings in the 1800s.
The modern observatory at Heliogland was established in 1910 with the first
efforts at trapping and banding birds.
The Old Mine Road Youth Hostel, located very near
the Delaware River and secluded off the seldom-traveled Old Mine Road, the Youth
Hostel provided undisturbed habitat in a migration flyway and was a phenomenal
banding site.
 A wandering varied thrush happened
by the front lawn and helped put the fledgling bird observatory on the birding
map. Hundreds of birders gathered in the gardens to catch a glimpse of
this New Jersey 'rare bird.'
Hunting within
the DWGNRA made banding just too hazardous in the fall, and after a few years at
the Hostel, RRBO moved its headquarters and library to
the grounds of Linwood MacDonald Environmental Education Center, and remained
there for many years. The last few years of RRBO included a banding station and
library headquarters in High Point State Park.
The former hostel building is abandoned, and is slated to be
demolished by the NPS.
During the stay at Linwood MacDonald, RRBO grew in size and scope. The
barn became headquarters for the wildlife rehabilitation program.
A permanently injured red-tailed hawk and great-horned owl joined the
educational programs, going out to schools for birds-of-prey talks, and
entertaining visitors at the Observatory.
Four additional banding stations/rehabilitation centers opened in Budd Lake,
Sparta, Sussex, Hackettstown, and later, High Point State Park.
By far, the most ambitious and successful undertaking, other than the ongoing
banding program, was the organization and completion of New Jersey's first
Breeding Bird Atlas Project - another pioneering "first" for RRBO.
Due to family health problems, RRBO closed the banding program in 1985 and Dot
relocated to Florida, where she continued to assemble Atlas data and wrote
and published the first volume. Dorothy Hughes died on June 24, 2005,
but her work, and her legacy, continues.
A member of the Hughes family has made it possible for Raccoon Ridge Bird
Observatory to continue today, with the construction of the a
new observatory building at
Linwood MacDonald Environmental Education Center.
The new RRBO officially opened on June 24, 2006.
The new building houses the banding lab, classroom, and research library,
and original research data. Bird banding takes place year-round, and
the Observatory is working in cooperation with Linwood to provide
educational programs for visiting groups. RRBO is staffed by
volunteers, and although very much a new and growing facility, there is much
potential here for the future.
As funds become available, we hope to add more nets, traps, and trained
banders to operate the station. The diversity of the species we have
banded in the last year has shown this location is an important stopover
point for migratory birds.
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