Interested in birding?  The Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is situated along the Atlantic Flyway and offers a world famous location for birders.  Help us celebrate the Refuge's 75th year by becoming a birder, or if already a birder hone your skills with tips from a recognized expert! Bill Gette, former Director of Mass Audubon's…

The Parker River NWR preserves a natural bog where the cranberry grows much as it did for thousands of years when Native Americans harvested this resource and when the European Settlers arrived.  Native Americans and European settlers included cranberries in their diets.   When sugar from the Caribbean became available in the American colonies, popularity…

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Friends of Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Inc., I am pleased to invite you to participate in the 2018 Annual Meeting of the corporation on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 10:00AM to be held in the Visitor Center Auditorium at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge at…

How did Plum Island and Salisbury Beach evolve from remote and inhospitable barrier beaches into popular beachfront destinations? Why do they have such distinct personalities? With the help of dozens of fascinating photos, maps, documents and postcards, presenter John Macone will explain  "A Tale of Two Beaches.” Once remote places, the beaches have evolved and…

Bill Gette, former Director of Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center, has led natural history field trips for more than thirty years. Some of the most sought-after birds in New England are the many species of winter raptors. Some of these amazing birds are permanent residents in our area. Others move south out of their…

The refuge’s fourth annual Conservation Film Festival is primed and ready to go for the first weekend in March. And it’s all FREE! Films that will be screened during the festival focus on a broad range of local, national and international conservation topics. All film screenings are FREE and will take place in the refuge…

Native Americans depended on the resource-rich environment of the Parker River watershed and Plum Island around the time of European contact. Their livelihoods were organized seasonally, focusing on local plant and animal subsistence resources and economic activities for spring, summer, fall, and winter. The people–Abenaki-speaking Pawtucket-Pennacook with roots in New Hampshire–had a permanent agricultural village…