Ernie L. Oros Preserve, NJ

ABOUT THE PARK:
Pin Oak Forest - Middlesex County Parks

DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 40.58555, -74.26273

Parking along Omar Avenue at the preserve entrance.

TRAIL MAP:
Ernie L Oros Preserve at Pin Oak Forest Trail Map - Middlesex County Parks

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HIKE DISTANCE:  2.3 miles

THE HIKE:
What is one to do when the workplace has a virus (the computer kind, not the human kind) and one cannot log on to the network until the virus issue is resolved?  Why, one hikes, of course.  This little preserve is a little over 3 miles from my house and I had never been there before so this was the day.

To the left of the entrance is a butterfly garden.  No garden and no butterflies  yet.

There were a bunch of birds around as we approached and a gray bird with a white head flew into a tree.

I managed to snag a shot and turns out this is a leucistic robin.  Credit for this ID goes to the awesome birders at the What's This Bird Facebook group where you can post a picture of a bird and get a response with an ID, usually in under 2 minutes.

Moving on to the trails across the bridge, note the map which is somewhat more accurate than the online map.

Trails branch off from this post and are identified by posts with pictures.

We were headed towards the Whitetail Deer Trail keeping right when I saw a bridge up ahead.

We crossed it but there was nothing on the other side.

On the Whitetail Deer Trail.

Fresh Meadows Pond

The trail's namesake.

Lots of ducks call this preserve home.

The end of the trail.

Heading back.

Crossing a bridge over to the Fresh Meadows Pond Trail.

The end of the trail guarded by a Canada goose pair.

Heading back.

This song sparrow was singing beautifully as we walked along.

Now on the Woodpecker Trail.

Balloon #15 of the year.

I know I took a picture of it but can't seem to find it - to the left, great views of Rahway State Prison, as it is most often recognized by people outside of New Jersey from the documentary Scared Straight!

This trail ends at railroad tracks.

Heading back.

Now to the Pat's Ponds Trail marked by yellow frogs.

Pat's Pond

A lot of these birds flying over to Newark/JFK/LaGuardia.

The yellow frog blazed trail was indeed the place to find frogs.  Walking along the pond all I heard was PLOP PLOP PLOP as they jumped in.  This was the only one I was able to get a shot of before he plopped in.

Now on the Woodpecker Trail.

A dicey crossing but we made it over without getting too wet and muddy.

The reason I wanted to get across was to get to where the Raccoon Trail was supposed to start but it was not there, just a fence and no sign of a trail.  (I saw later that although this is shown on the online map and you can see the trail on Google Earth, the map at the kiosk no longer shows the trail.

On the way back I picked up some litter.  Grrrrr.

Seriously?

Crossing back over the bridge towards the entrance then veering right to...

... the Wild Turkey Trail and Raccoon Trail?  So is this how you get there now?  Not exactly....

Brodie loves pumpkin but I had to pull him away.

So, there are blazes for the Wild Turkey Trail but there is no trail.  We basically bushwhacked around from blaze to blaze.

Brodie spied some more friends across the creek.

These deer never moved the whole time we were traipsing around trying to follow the trail.

Heading back.

That is a Raccoon Trail blaze but we never did find the Raccoon Trail.  Seeing how obliterated the Wild Turkey Trail was, I doubt the Raccoon Trail fared much better.

I think Brodie actually touched the fur of this groundhog before I noticed and yanked him away.

The groundhog never moved.  Guess he figures he doesn't have to seeing as he predicted the weather correctly this year.

Of all the wildlife we saw on this hike, Brodie just could not let go of the groundhog sighting.  He kept wanting to go back and I had to keep dragging him along.

Back at the entrance where the cigar wrapper went into the trash can on the right and the plastic bottles went into the recycling can on the left.  Apparently this is too complicated of a concept for some.