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.

Glades Wildlife Refuge, NJ - Tat Starr Trail

ABOUT THE PARK:
Glades Wildlife Refuge - Natural Lands Trust

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates for Tat Starr Trail - 39.26500, -75.16577

There is a parking lot beyond the gate but since the gate was closed I parked off the side of the road where there was ample space.

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:

She was getting very tired having hiked over 6 miles already.  If I had any thoughts about making her sit this one out, that look clearly said "Don't you even think about it."

So off we went.  This hike was a couple of miles from the others but turned out to be our most favorite one of the day.

In the holly forest on a nice December day you could almost imagine it was spring already.

The trail is well blazed.

A short section of Russell Road.

Huge old trees.

Leaving Russell Road into the phragmite maze

The observation tower 1 mile out at the end of the trail.

Not coming up those steps.

Flocks of hundreds of birds flew right over.  They did not make a sound other than the collective wing flaps which sounded like a huge gust of wind was coming.

She found herself a soft spot and made herself comfortable.

Can't think of a better place for a snack.

Seemed like there were two flocks of different birds that kept coming over.

Yes, she is tired.

But she perks right back up to finish.