Gone Hikin': NJ Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge

Showing posts with label NJ Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. Show all posts

Monday, September 5, 2016

Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge - Wood Duck Trail

ABOUT THE PARK:
Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge - US Fish and Wildlife Service
Wallkill River Nature Trails - US Fish and Wildlife Service
No dogs allowed on this trail.

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 41.19392, -74.58550

TRAIL MAP:
Refuge Map (shows all trails) - US Fish and Wildlife Service
Wood Duck Nature Trail - US Fish and Wildlife Service

HIKE DISTANCE:
Wood Duck Nature Trail - 3.7 miles
hiked together with a 1.5 mile drive to:
Dagmar Dale Nature Trail - 2.6 miles

THE HIKE:

The trail starts right off of the small parking lot.

Indeed.

It's a gorgeous tunnel of greenery.

Swamps along either side early on.

The gray catbird that I swear has been following me around on every hike here lately.

If you think it was bird overload on the Dagmar Dale hike, get ready for turtle overload on this one.

I saw people coming towards me on the trail so I zoomed in but at the time could not see who it was (or like I would have know who it was) from that distance until they got closer and just as I thought "NO WAY!" I heard him say "NO WAY!"

Yes Way! Dan and Laura Balogh! It is the second time we ran into one another this year. What fun!

Continuing on...

Two male red0winged blackbirds landed...

... then flew into a tree directly above me and were joined by a female. Standing there taking pictures directly above me of 3 birds might have gotten a little messy so I moved on along.

The trail eventually becomes grassy...

... and ends at the Walkill River although there is not much of it to see in the summer.

To the right is a gate with a mowed path so I followed that to see where it would lead.

Turkey Vulture

The mowed path continues along a meadow and comes out...

... at a parking area on Route 23. The sign says permit parking only for the wildlife refuge.

Heading back.

Back through the gate ...

... to another look at the river.

A different kind of bird.

Heading back on the Wood Duck Trail.

And many more turtles on the way back.

Back at the parking lot.

Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge - Dagmar Dale Trail

Parking at refuge headquarters.

TRAIL MAP:
Refuge Map (shows all trails) - US Fish and Wildlife Service
Dagmar Dale Nature Trail - US Fish and Wildlife Service

HIKE DISTANCE:
Dagmar Dale Nature Trail - 2.6 miles
hiked together with a 1.5 mile drive to:
Wood Duck Nature Trail - 3.7 miles

THE HIKE:
Warning: There will be more bird pictures than you have ever seen at one time on this blog before. I counted 14 different kinds and those are only the ones I got decent pictures of. There are so many juveniles around right now that it makes IDing even more difficult so if I mislabeled anyone, let me know! Also, since Shawnee hiked 7.7 miles the day before and it's a holiday weekend, I went again and did a no dogs allowed hike so she could sit this one out.

Already from the parking lot while I was still putting my shoes on, a field sparrow.

And a bunny!

Started on the Dagmar Dale North Loop to the right facing towards the maintenance area.

It's a mowed path uphill along meadows.

Views of the Wallkill River valley, covered by a cloud at 7 AM on this morning.

Everything was covered with tiny droplets of water from the morning dew.

Descending into the fog. A little farther ahead is where I would stand so long taking pictures of birds in those two trees that the fog had pretty much lifted by the time I moved on.

Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

Eastern Bluebird

House Wren

Cooper's Hawk, I believe. Saw this big guy fly in, then move to the dead tree...

... where he spread his tail and was catching some rays of sunshine breaking through.

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Moving on and with the fog now barely noticable.

Juvenile American Goldfinch

Fox Sparrow?

A wet bird.

Wallkill River

After going through and along meadows, the trail enters the woods...

... where it meets up with the south loop.

Those cedar waxwings, always so pretty and eager to be photographed.

The entire family arrived - two adults and three juveniles.

I hope I have lost enough weight on my recent diet to cross this bridge.

Two different kinds of birds in an apple tree, a yellow-throated vireo on the right, I believe ...

... and two more birds in another apple tree. Looks like maybe male and female house finches.

This Eastern Bluebird is banded.

Back at the parking lot ...

... where yet another bunny passed by. Think it is a different one than at the beginning of the hike because this one has a little notch in her ear that I did not see on the first one.