Category: Sussex County

Appalachian Trail – Pochuck Creek Section

During the week, I frequently leave work and go straight to the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. I planned on doing just that today, but the route I take to get there passes by the Appalachian Trail in Vernon Township, New Jersey. I later found out that this area is called the Pochuck Creek Section of the Appalachian Trail.  I have often thought about stopping there and taking a walk to see if it is any good for birding. Well, today I finally stopped to try it out. The trail is primarily a narrow boardwalk that snakes through the Pochuck Creek Marsh and eventually crosses the Pochuck Creek.

I knew the trail had possibilities when heard a Willow Flycatcher just about thirty paces in, and then right after that I was able to take pictures of a new sparrow for me which I later identified as a Swamp Sparrow:

Swamp Sparrow at the AT Pochuck Creek Section.

 

I continued slowly on the trail, enjoying being outside and appreciating the cool breezes. As I made my way towards the bridge that crossed Pochuck Creek I heard and saw a good number of birds.

I was surprised to see this male Northern Cardinal in the middle of the marsh.
I'm seeing tons of Cedar Waxwings lately - I love it.
It was getting to be pretty low light conditions so I had a chance to practice taking photos with my new monopod. This shot of a Red-winged Blackbird was taken with a shutter speed of 1/50th of a second and although it isn't in perfect focus it's not too bad.

I arrived at the bridge and as I crossed it I was looking left and then right. When I looked right I saw my highlight of the day: a female merganser with 8 chicks swimming down the creek and quickly around the bend! I was not sure if it was a Common Merganser or a Hooded Merganser – I did not get a great look at her, and also I think because I was so surprised to see a merganser – I haven’t seen one in this area since mid March. After considering for a while and looking in some bird guides I am leaning towards Common Merganser with chicks, but I need to go back to (hopefully!) get a second look to make a positive identification.

I had my second highlight as I made my way back to my car. A female Wood Duck with several ducklings were hidden under the boardwalk, and as I approached I inadvertently flushed them out.  I managed to get this photo before this duckling disappeared into the grasses:

Wood Duck duckling at Pochuck Creek.

 

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 – Photos

 

There were 49 (!!!) Mute Swans at Hyper Humus Marshes.
Female Eastern Bluebird at Hyper Humus Marshes.
Great Egret in a tree. Hyper Humus Marshes.
Eastern Kingbird at Hyper Humus Marshes.
It was hard to keep track of the number of Great Blue Herons out at Hyper Humus Marshes because they were so active. I would say there was at least 8.
GBH in flight at Hyper Humus Marshes.
American Goldfinches were numerous out at Wallkill River NWR.
Cedar Waxwing at Wallkill River NWR.
Indigo Bunting at Wallkill Wildlife Refuge.
Northern Flicker...
...at...
...Sterling Forest State Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hyper Humus Marshes 5/25/12

One of two Great Egrets at the Hyper Humus Marshes.

Yesterday after work I made it out to the Hyper Humus Marshes (now called the Paulinskill River Hyper-Humus Wildlife Management Area). I saw on eBird that Red Phalarope had been spotted there, so I figured I would go check it out. It was my first visit to the Hyper Humus Marshes, and I will definitely be going back. The site is located near Lafayette in Sussex County, New Jersey. According to the Audubon website ( http://iba.audubon.org/iba/viewSiteProfile.do?siteId=3115&navSite=state), it is an Important Bird Area and “most of site is composed of freshwater forested and emergent wetlands fed by the Paulinskill River and numerous permanent springs. The site contains several cattail marshes and large ponds originally created in the 1900s by a peat and humus mining operation belonging to the Hyper Humus Company”. It is a really nice walk and there were plenty of birds to see.

I had a relatively quick outing, I was there for just under and hour and a half. I did not have any luck with the Red Phalarope, but it was a productive day. I ran into Mary Ann, an experienced birder that I met one other time out at the Wallkill River WR. We walked together and she helped with some of my identifications (thanks!).  For the day, I had 26 species:

I have seen many Baltimore Orioles this year but have not managed to get a good photo yet...here's a mediocre one.
  • Canada Goose
  • Mute Swan
  • Wood Duck
  • Mallard
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Black Vulture
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Bald Eagle
  • Killdeer
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Mourning Dove
  • Alder Flycatcher (thanks to Mary Ann for the ID)
  • Warbling Vireo (heard)
  • Tree Swallow
  • Veery (heard)
  • Wood Thrush (heard, thanks again Mary Ann)
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Song Sparrow
  • Indigo Bunting (heard first by Mary Ann then we both got a good look)
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Baltimore Oriole

The highlight of the day for me was getting a good look the Indigo Bunting. Hearing the Veery was great too, that song is just amazing.

On the way back we ran into this snapping turtle on the trail.