This Golf Course Is For The Birds
By David Shefter, USGA
Mendham, N.J. – Anyone mentioning birdies around Mendham Golf and Tennis Club might not necessarily be talking about their exploits on the golf course.
While over the past 50-plus years members and their guests have flocked to the bucolic 165-acre central New Jersey property, since 1992 the club has also become an aviary heaven.
A cluster of purple martin gourds are 90 percent full during peak season. (John Mummert/USGA)
From as far south as Brazil, hundreds of birds have annually taken up residence alongside the fairways. On any given day, visitors to the club can discover upward of 80 different species of birds, led by the tropical purple martins, which migrate north each summer from South America, a trek that covers 2,500 miles.
“We have about an 80-percent return rate,” says Bill Hintz of Morristown, N.J., the member who has spearheaded Mendham’s passion to preserve and protect its birds.
Last year, the club’s conservation efforts were rewarded when Mendham became a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, an honor that the club takes with a great deal of pride. Audubon certification is an initiative that is supported by many in the golf industry, including the USGA’s Green Section department.
“There are many stringent requirements other than protecting bird habitat necessary for certification,” said Hintz. “But having an extensive bird program certainly did not hurt.”
And birds aren’t the only inhabitants one might encounter on the course, situated some 50 miles west of New York City. Foxes, rabbits, squirrels and deer roam its fields, and last year a black bear knocked down three bluebird houses. The pond abutting the 12th tee provides water for the birds and a home for fish.
But it’s the birds that have made Mendham a unique story. What began as a small hobby by one former member has turned into a passion for 11 dedicated individuals.
When Mendham member Ted Seaman decided he couldn’t handle the harsh New Jersey winters and moved to Tucson, Ariz., little did he know what he was leaving behind. Hintz, who claimed to know little about birds, discovered Seaman had constructed four bluebird houses and a purple martin house and left them on a workbench in the club’s maintenance facility.
Not wanting to let Seaman’s work go unfulfilled, Hintz and two other members became involved in the bird business. Early on, there was plenty of trial and error. Purple martin houses were erected in the wrong spots, and the group was surprised when a raccoon pilfered all the bluebird nests, and equally surprised when the purple martins never came.
Purple martins migrate north in early April to the comfortable climate of the Northeast and upper Midwest. They lay their eggs and by August they are ready to make the long journey back to the tropics of South America. Purple martins feast on insects such as dragonflies, but contrary to popular belief, they don’t eat mosquitoes.
With help from the Purple Martin Conservation Association and the North American Bluebird Society, the Mendham bird group finally got on the right track. They purchased gourds to attract the purple martins and properly constructed houses for the bluebirds. The houses can be spotted all over the course.
Adjacent to the 11th are pumpkin-shaped white balls that to the uninitiated observer look like sophisticated weather equipment. But these are the gourds that house the purple martins. It is here that the nests are made, and the chicks fed and nurtured so by the end of the summer, they can fly back to Brazil.
Golfers can’t miss this sanctuary. Purple martins make quite a ruckus. Hintz said that when they leave in August, an eerie silence takes over the premises as the membership realizes the purple martins have migrated south.
“We have about 110 purple martins,” said Hintz. “The gourds are 90 percent filled.”
Last year alone, the club had 500 fledglings among the 83 species of birds. At Mendham, there are 77 bluebird houses and five gourd racks that feature 60 houses for the purple martins.
On July 6, the annual Bird Day was held at Mendham. Grandparents, adults and 64 children ages 5 to 15 attended. The kids got a chance to hold the birds and assist Tim Shaheen, a local bird expert, in banding the 20-day-old nestlings.
A purple martin surveys its surrounding from within a gourd that was erected at the Mendham Golf & Tennis Club.(John Mummert/USGA)
“The facial expressions of awe and excitement as the kids hold these birds are priceless,” said Hintz.
All this benevolence doesn’t come without a price. A purple martin gourd rack complete with predator guards sells for about $500 if purchased from the Purple Martin Conservation Association. Bluebird boxes can run $35, although Chatham resident and longtime Mendham member Glenn Nelson, who joined the bird group eight years ago, builds and fixes many himself. Mendham also conducts a nine-hole tournament and dinner, with a portion of the fees helping to defray expenses to sustain the birds.
The members also get plenty of assistance from Superintendent Chris Boyle, who helps install the boxes during the winter months when things are a little slower. Hintz and Nelson said any club interested in doing bird conservation only has to ask the golf course superintendent for advice in getting started. It’s also a good idea not to require him or her to be 100-percent involved.
“This usually is a mistake,” said Hintz of getting the superintendent to spearhead a bird conservation effort. “The superintendent has higher priorities. It’s better to have a club member group, usually of retired persons.”
At Mendham, it’s a perfect partnership. The 11 mostly retired individuals – there are eight men and three women in the group – are dedicated to their charge, with Boyle helping out when he can. Earlier this year, a 15-year-old boy, who wants to study ornithology in college, called on Boyle about building wood duck houses and mallard nesting platforms. One such platform can be seen just off the 18th fairway, though the construction came too late for 2009 to attract a nesting pair. By next year, the club hopes to have ducklings swimming in the ponds to further beautify the landscape.
By the mid-1900s, bluebirds, an American icon, were being seriously threatened by toxic pesticides, habitat destruction and nest predation by house sparrows and European starlings. Golf courses certainly were not the culprit as the decline was problematic across the country.
Purple martins were also a rarity in New Jersey. But thanks to the generosity of people like Hintz and the Mendham bird group, bluebird and purple martin populations are quite healthy. One recent visitor to Mendham discovered four small bluebird eggs in one house and several newborns resting comfortably in their nest as their mother scoured the terrain for nourishment.
Positioning gourds for the purple martins can be a challenge. If it’s not done correctly, Hintz said, you won’t attract the birds. Housing needs to be in an area of open flyways and few trees, with a pond or stream nearby. But they aren’t afraid of people because they know areas of heavy traffic will keep away predators such as starlings or house swallows. Properly installing predator guards on the poles also keeps the purple martins out of harm’s way.
“Golf courses are islands of green in an otherwise congested atmosphere,” said Hintz. “They are in a unique position to contribute to a healthy future environment.”
And heck, who doesn’t want to see more birdies at their course?
David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.