Indian Trail Swamp 11/29/2009
 RED SHOULDERED HAWK Post-Thanksgiving Stress Reduction The usual suspects, plus a few surprises The "Indian Trail Swamp" has two (or maybe three) divisions. The southern-most section, which runs roughly from the Wildwood Waterworks pond on Rt 47 up to Burleigh (13 Curve) Rd.; the middle section (which I visited today, and which I'm most familiar with) runs from 13 Curve north to Indian Trail Rd. The top section extends up to Stagecoach Rd., and possibly beyond. I've never been up there, and it looks like there are few if any decent trails for birding. If you'd like to visit and do some birding in this area of the Refuge, which is as beautiful and remote a spot as you can find in this part of Cape May County, your best bet is to park in the cut-out under the powerlines on Indian Trail Rd., about a mile west of Home Depot. Walk up the powerline trail; where the powerlines split into two branches, take the right fork and follow those lines up to The Nature Conservancy's "Indian Trail Swamp Preserve." If you're lucky and have a good GPS, you might just find the actual swamp after a nice hike. Be careful: trails are basically unmarked once you leave the powerline trail; and hunting is allowed here (in season) every day except Sunday, and I'd suggest a blaze orange hat even on Sunday during hunting season. Wild turkeys are fairly common here, but they don't always let you get a look at them (especially in hunting season). Look for them at the top of the powerline hill in the dry, sandy oak woods. Deer are also common, and if you're lucky you might see a fat black snake or an occasional coyote. If you get there early (or late), you might get to hear the barred and great-horned owls living there. It was 60 degrees at noon today, with lots of sun and no wind. But the winter resident birds were all there, enjoying what could be the last warm days of fall. The one bird I had hoped to see, the winter wren, did not appear today. But a red-shouldered hawk and a yellow-bellied sapsucker were surprise sightings. Here's my list for the day: Birds -Mockingbird -Carolina wren -red bellied woodpecker -turkey vulture -black vulture -mourning dove -robin white-throat sparrow song sparrow -field sparrow -Cooper's hawk -red-tailed hawk -golden-crowned kinglet -snowgeese (flyovers) -yellow rumped warbler -Carolina chickadee -tufted titmouse -downy woodpecker -American (common) crow -red-shouldered hawk -hermit thrush -yellow-bellied sapsucker -cardinal goldfinch Butterflies: -monarch -buckeye -clouded sulphur Dragonflies: -green darner 1 Comment |  Birds &
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