ABOUT THE PARK:
Troy Meadows - Wildlife Preserves
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.84915, -74.35483
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| Parking along the entrance drive which is accessed from the service road running parallel to I-280. |
TRAIL MAP:
none
HIKE DISTANCE: 4.3 miles
THE HIKE:
Shawnee did not hike today because she needs to rest up for an upcoming hiking road trip. So my son and I went to explore Troy Meadows in a section where it would not be a good idea to take dogs at all - not that anything says they are not allowed but you'll see why.
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| The trail starts on the road which continues into the forest. |
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| Nearing the power cut. |
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| Our destination - the boardwalk through the power cut. |
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| Problem is you have to cross the marsh on boards and there were some missing. |
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| My son going out to... |
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| ... link up the crossing while ... |
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| ... I find a balloon while looking for branches to use. (#28 for the year) |
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| It was like a Great Blue Heron super highway all morning. |
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| Connection complete and crossing over. Very, very carefully. |
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| At the boardwalk ... |
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| ... a ladder to climb. |
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| And here we are, on the Green Mile, a boardwalk constructed by PSE&G when the new monopole transmission towers were installed. As you can see, the surface would not be good for dog paws. |
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| It replaced the old wooden boardwalk which still runs parallel on the right but is so narrow there is no way I would have walked that had it been in walkable shape. The green mile was hard enough. It is higher than it looks in the pictures and if you are afraid of heights like I am, you get all wobbly in the knees. |
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| Me all wobbly in the knees in the rain - photo by Bryan. |
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| Male red-winged blackbirds everywhere. |
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| Way across the marshes to the right, a nest with a bird sitting to the left of it but too far away to make out what it is. |
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| That nest is on the left with more on the right. Might be a Great Blue Heron rookery. |
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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Greater Yellowlegs |
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| Eastern Bluebird |
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| Troy Brook |
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| Black-capped Chickadee - photo by Bryan |
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| Swamp Sparrow - photo by Bryan |
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| Eastern Phoebe - photo by Bryan |
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| The Green Mile ends. We went down that board and found it was not that swampy so we explored a bit. |
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| Another balloon, #29 for the year. |
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| Above Bryan's head, an eagle nest. |
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| Heading back to the Green Mile. |
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| Looking back, the boardwalk continues on the other side of Whippany River but it looks completely overgrown with phragmites, |
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| Heading back. |
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| Swamp Sparrow |
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| At the ladder where we had come up. Bryan had left the boot covers hanging to dry out so we grabbed those and continued on with the intention of returning to the car via the service road. |
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| Looking back at the boards over the swamp to the woods road where we had started. |
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| American Kestrel |
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| Great Blue Heron upper left with huge nest lower right - photo by Bryan. |
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| American Robin |
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| Canada Geese |
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| Tree Swallows |
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| Two tree swallows and a red-winged blackbird - photo by Bryan. |
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| Muskrat Houses |
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| Towards the end, the boardwalk becomes overgrown but nothing with thorns so it's still easy enough to get through right now. |
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| Becoming very overgrown - photo by Bryan |
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| Almost at the end. |
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| Female Red-winged Blackbird |
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| Uh oh. How to get out? |
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| I managed to slide through the opening. One extra pound and that would not have happened. Bryan didn't fit. |
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| He did fit under the gate. |
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| Looking back at the Green Mile. |
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| Continuing on the service road. |
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| A raccoon was here. |
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| Looking back over the marsh and the monopoles. |
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| Service Road along I-280. |
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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Great Blue Heron in flight - photo by Bryan |
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| Mourning Doves - photo by Bryan |
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| After the gate the service road becomes paved. |
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| Conflicting signs. |
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| Coming up on ... |
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| ... the drive to the parking area. |
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| Balloon Cleanup - Done! |
Not the best of weather conditions and not the most attractive or conducive trail conditions either. But I applaud your endeavors to mark Earth Day by celebrating nature in capturing all those great bird sightings, animal tracks & the muskrat homes. Not to mention two new balloons that will no longer be littering the Earth, but will find a place in your collection. Thinking of you & Shawnee as always.
ReplyDeleteLinda
With a 15% chance of rain yesterday, I figured we'd be safe. It was more like 100% chance of rain. Today wasn't supposed to be so nice either and it's gorgeous out. But I think with sunshine it would have been harder to capture a lot of the birds so it was all good :)
DeleteDaniela
You got some great shots of the birds. However, it doesn't look like such a great place to hike. Thanks for sharing! Joanne from NJ
ReplyDeleteIt was different and sometimes different is good!
DeleteDaniela
Wow -- what a place! I know that messy areas are sometimes a part of hiking adventures, but having to put the links together to get to the Green Mile?? But kudos to Bryan for his "Survivor"-like performance on connecting the links...Jeff Probst would be proud! (I probably would have left for greener pastures...so to speak.)
ReplyDeleteAt least you both got some excellent bird shots...can never have too many of the Red-winged Blackbirds! I also liked the Great Blue Heron and Greater Yellowlegs shots.
Great job on getting two more balloons. There just seems to be no limits as to where these things will end up! I'm sure the once-proud owners of these balloons never really think about where these things will ultimately end up once they let them go to "float away forever"; they must think they just magically vanish into thin air. But at least you are enhancing your collection, so I guess that's a plus!
Anyway -- I'm looking forward to your hiking road trip with Shawnee!
-- Jim
Yes, thank goodness my son came along! The pregnant daughter-in-law was supposed to come but decided not to at the last minute. This would not have worked for her at all so good thing she did not come.
DeleteDaniela
Really loved your hike. Moved to Virginia and miss all my favorite hikes in NJ and PA. Donna Festa
ReplyDeleteThanks! But do you know what I would give to be able to move to Virginia? I go there at every opportunity to hike. In fact, heading there this week!
DeleteDaniela
A couple fun things to do to share your terrific nature photography :)
ReplyDeleteThe Naturalist's Notebook shares photo contributions on it's Facebook page.
http://www.thenaturalistsnotebook.com
Pennington Wild Bird Food has a weekly peer reviewed Facebook photo contest.
https://www.facebook.com/PenningtonBirds/app/1090692314278873/
Always a pleasure to stop by :)
Eddie W.
Thanks, Eddie, just what I need, more Facebook pages, LOL. There is a really good one called "What's This Bird?" where birders will help ID birds when you just can't figure out what they are. Been spending too much time on that one as it is! But will certainly check out your recommendations when I get a chance.
DeleteDaniela
Troy Meadows is 2,000+ acres of private property. It is not a people Park, it is a Wildlife sanctuary. Wildlife Preserves allows limited access to bird watchers and nature lovers. Access to the boardwalk is restricted. The telephone number is listed on the posters.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but there were no signs to that effect and nothing of that sort is stated on the web site. In fact, the sign I have a picture of above clearly states "Visitors Welcome".
DeleteMade this hike when the catwalk extended to Ridgedale Ave in 1964 at 8 years old when i first moved to East Hanover. For 56 years I fondly thought of that hike and my brand new friends from EH. This blog contributed in reuniting us 56 years later to re-experience this together in a couple of weeks. I only lived about a mile from it yet i never revisited it. Thanks for the great blog post about it.
ReplyDeleteHow nice! Thanks for sharing that.
Delete