Sunday, December 6, 2015

Glades Wildlife Refuge, NJ - Bald Eagle Trail and Turkey Point


ABOUT THE PARK:
Glades Wildlife Refuge - Natural Lands Trust

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates for Bald Eagle Trail - 39.26134, -75.12585
No parking lot but parking appears to be off  to the side of the road.

TRAIL MAP:
Glades Wildlife Refuge Trail Map - Natural Lands Trust


HIKE DISTANCES:
All hikes combined with short drives from one to the other - 8.4 miles
Bald Eagle Trail - 1.6 miles
Maple Street Trail - 4 miles
Warfle Farm Trail .7 miles
Tat Star Tail - 2.1 miles

THE HIKE:
Heading out on the Bald Eagle trail on a frosty and foggy morning.
Trails are mowed and easy to follow.
Tons of birds everywhere.
The pond that the trail loops around.
Back at Turkey Point Road.
I drove the short distance from the Bald Eagle Trail to Turkey Point where the road ends.
Shawnee waited patiently in the car (you can see her ears on the back seat) while I climbed the observation tower.  (Those two beer bottles on the left are now in my recycling bin.)
As soon as I looked around from up high, there was a Great Blue Heron nearby on the top of a tree.
Bridge over Weir Creek.
Shawnee came along on the bridge.
Weir Creek
From the other side of the bridge you can access Egg Island WMA and it looked like there was a path but also a ton of garbage so I decided it was not worth getting Shawnee down the steps to explore that side.
The egret still sitting there totally unconcerned about us.
There was a path this side of the bridge so we went a short distance along that - a very short distance before I decided...
... that was a very bad idea.
Driving back on Turkey Point Road, a seagull was sitting on the bridge and never moved when I pulled right up along side of him to take his picture.  I could have reached out the window and touched him.
But this was his reaction when I spoke to him.  Sorry!
Although I saw no bald eagles on the Bald Eagle Trail, before heading home I drove by a PSE&G restoration site nearby that has a trail and boardwalks over the marshes to see if it might be worth another trip back at a later time and there I saw a bald eagle at the end of the boardwalk from the parking lot.
The sun was at a horrible angle and he was pretty far away so even the 35x zoom did not do a very good job.
And here he is taking off.


7 comments:

  1. Really nice- looks like some decent trails- amazing- we almost may have run into each other- we planned on doing a kayak trail there this weekend- but i had to cancel :(. They say no dogs in the water- but I was hoping one in a kayak maybe OK. We did one of the other preserves a couple of weeks ago- Crows Nest in Elverson Pa.

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    1. What a shame that you had to cancel because you would have had the water all to yourself. I saw nobody in the water anywhere and it was such a gorgeous day. I want to get to Crows Nest one of these days. It's rare than I have free weekends when I can be gone all day and travel any distance.

      Daniela

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    2. Rare for me too :(. Now that I see your pictures and the weather for this week- I am definitely going to try to get down there!! December kayaking- what a treat that will be ��

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    3. That will be AWESOME! Hope you can make it. Let me know if you post pics on FB so I don't miss it.

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  2. very nice photos especially of that egret! Shawnee looks great which I am always happy to see. Thanks for sharing! Joanne

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  3. Haven't stopped by for a while. The second pic in the series was an empty road ahead of you. The third pic and then, "There she is :)" Glad you two are well. Beautiful spot that area.

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    1. Yes, we are still plugging along together! Hopefully for a while longer yet although I fully realize each hike with her is a bonus at this point.

      Daniela

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