Blue Goose ~ Day 109

September 16, 2014 ~ Pocomoke, MD to Chincoteague, VA

I got to the island at 0800 and first went to the Best Western situated adjacent to a vast salt marsh just outside of the refuge proper. I have a lot of points (oh, but not quite enough for THIS particular motel. Well, OK then....I fulfilled the requirements for the summer promotion, but oh dear, it takes 2-3 weeks before the voucher is sent and so you aren't eligible for a few more days... I shrugged and just reserved a room anyway for the night. The typical deal at the desk...lots of serious computer perusal; then a call for help from a supervisor who also looked intently at the computer and mumbled stuff to the younger staff member, and then went out of sight into a back office, eventually emerging to tell me so sad, too bad....Why am I not surprised I said. I think they were chagrined and did offer to let me have a room right away, at 0800 in the morning. However, I had a refuge to visit....

Misty the XIIth or XXth - Chincoteague NWR - VA

Esther, I thought of you several times today...the ponies and all. I hiked a 2+ mile trail, saw a cut-off to "Pony Overlook" and hiked another mile just to take horrible photos of too-far-away ponies....all for you.

Chincoteague is a pretty place. DHC and I went here last year also in September after we left The Gathering in Virginia Beach where we remembered our dear sister Maria with her friends from around the country.

It was the nearly the same kind of day today but with not quite the bird variety. I went to the little beach where we saw so many, and there were some, but no godwits, turnstones or ospreys. Nice terns though and Black Skimmers.

Caspian and Royal Terns - Chincoteague NWR - VA

It was warm, and folks were settled in beach chairs...very pleasant without the summer crowds.

The 3-mile walk in the woods was a paved trail - wheelchair accessible - and, again, there were birds in the canopy when I was patient and waited for the flicks of movement...Brown-headed Nuthatches, a nice view of a Northern Parula...

The Loblolly pines are very tall with long 7-inch needles in groups of three making a nice ground cover. In other places, the coastal flora is dense and dark and looks impenetrable. I saw a Delmarva fox squirrel, an endangered species, and a very tame little deer, unperturbed by my presence.

It is interesting that dogs are increasingly prohibited on the refuges, and here on Chincoteague, pets are not even permitted in one's vehicle.

At 3 p.m., the Wildlife Tour Loop route is open until dusk. I drove it twice always hoping for a Seaside Sparrow. I even walked the one-mile Marsh Trail near sunset since someone eBirded a SS there recently. Did I see one? Oh well.....still on a quest here...

There WERE hundred of egrets and many Glossy Ibises, and I saw both an immature pure white and a mature dark blue Little Blue Heron. The immature white form looks very much like a Snowy Egret but I've learned the difference and now look for it.

A day of beaches, woods with a piney smell in the sunshine, birds, hiking and then eating Maryland crab cakes which were delicious.

Salt Marsh on Assateague Island - Chincoteague NWR - VA

It was nearly dark when I got to the motel so I didn't sit on my wee patio as I had planned but soaked in the tub and finished reading Life Is a Wheel by Bruce Weber (on loan from Bob), about a New York Times writer who bicycled across America for the second time at age 57. (He did his first trip when he was 40.) I could definitely relate to much of his inner dialogue and the psychology of a long solo trip, plus I knew almost all of the general routes and cities he passed through. I guess that says something about my gypsy side.

Blue Goose ~ Day 108

September 15, 2014 ~ Shady Side, MD to Pocomoke, MD

Faith had to get the commuter bus to DC at 0700 so I dropped her off at a large parking lot already full of cars and went on to Patuxent NWR, 45 minutes north, arriving at 0745. The VC didn't open until 0900, but I walked nearby short trails as the sun came over the trees. Patuxent is officially a Research NWR so I wondered what exactly that means. It has three sections: South Tract, Central Tract and North Tract. The Central Tract is not open to visitors and is the main research area. The North Tract was part of Fort Meade and was transferred to the USFWS in the 1990s. Patuxent also has a partnership with the US Geological Survey and is unique in that regard. All a bit mysterious but perhaps it's just my imagination.

Patuxent Reseaerch NWR - MD

The entrance to the VC on the South Tract is at the end of a mile-long access road through beautiful hardwoods. The land surrounding Washington DC has an abundance of mature preserved woodland in addition to all the inlets, creeks and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake. 

As always, there were trails and roads so the public can experience a part of the refuge. I wandered through a Pollinator Garden in the School Yard Habitat near the headquarters. There are regular tram tours, bird walks, a Honey Harvest Festival this coming Saturday....many events and programs for the public each month and many signs along the trails acknowledging pioneer conservationists.

I met a gentleman with binoculars who at first seemed to be an employee but on closer inspection, all the sewn-on badges were of a paramilitary nature, and he seemed a wishful paramilitary, as much of his conversation was about which parts of the refuge were not accessible to the public. He was a bit dismissive of the reasons given...reasons like "unexploded ordinance" or "ya know...after 9/11....." or, "You could probably go there, since you're not from around here and could say you didn't know..." He was friendly though and seemed knowledgeable about birds. While we were talking I saw an Indigo Bunting but immediately thought it could be a Blue Grosbeak and then it flew before I could get a better look. This is an example of what separates a fully competent birder (not me....yet) from a moderate birder (me). I did see a male Scarlet Tanager in fall plumage, a few warblers, Carolina Chickadees, nuthatches... The birds are mostly quietly foraging in the canopy these days and require long periods of looking nearly straight up...hard on the neck, and the trees are still full of leaves so often quick unsatisfying glimpses are all I get. Still, with perseverance one can see much more than is first apparent. Birds are certainly around since they are migrating south now, but they are less vocal than in spring. 

When I stopped at theVC, the volunteer told me that Whooping Cranes are one of the big research projects at Patuxent. I found this reference from May of 2014:  

REFUGEASSOCIATION.ORG

The captive flock at Patuxent began in 1966 with the arrival of a juvenile whooping crane, captured from the Canadian flock after it broke its wing. Patuxent had already been working with other endangered species, and had made plans to work on whooping cranes. It was a natural transition, and has turned out to be a success. Currently about 70 cranes are on the refuge, not including this year’s reproduction...John French, Research Manager at USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, showing how the researchers use the fake crane head to teach the chicks where to eat and drink. Researchers are actively breeding whooping cranes at Patuxent. Eggs are typically laid between mid April to early June depending on the year, and are hatched 30 days later. The cranes usually lay eggs in pairs, and when those eggs are removed, the cranes will lay more. Researchers can sometimes extract up to seven eggs per pair of cranes. The eggs are collected from the nests and brought indoors to a facility where they are incubated until hatching. Once hatched, the chicks are raised on the refuge for reintroduction to the wild.

As the chicks grow, the researchers working on the project teach the baby cranes everything they need to know. They dress in an all-white suits and use a fake crane head (shown in the picture on the right) to reduce the chance of humans imprinting on the young birds. The chicks learn where to get water, where to get food, and in some cases how to fly.

The birds are entered into one of two different reintroduction programs. In one program, the whooping cranes stay on the refuge for about six months after they hatch. During this time, they learn how to fly while on the refuge. At six months, they are then taken to coastal Louisiana, which is part of their native range. They will stay there the rest of their lives since this population does not migrate.

In the second reintroduction program, the birds are moved off of the refuge between five to seven weeks after hatching. These birds are mostly grown, but have not fledged and therefore cannot fly. These birds are taken to Wisconsin where researchers use ultralight aircraft to teach the birds to fly and migrate. Following the ultralight aircraft on their first migration, the birds migrate north with the rest of the flock, and then return to Wisconsin in the winter.

The refuge was serene on this early September kids-back-in-school morning, warm, sunny and very quiet. The VC had impressive exhibits and outreach programs for school kids and mentally challenged adults who love to "touch the fur" and "punch the interactive buttons" the volunteer told me.

After leaving Patuxent (and still kind of wondering what other research they do), I drove back east over the Bay Bridge and south to Pocomoke in brilliant sunshine. There was supposed to be a Starbuck's in Salisbury, and it was rush hour when I got in the general area. I never did find it which occasionally happens, so just kept going after making a couple of U-turns from busy roads and listening to my phone tell me it was "re-routing." Which was fine as I had also stopped in Easton for two hours to catch up with this blog. It was more rural the farther south I went. Tall Loblolly pines lined the main road in between the open fields and towns. I remembered to stop at a liquor store and bought wine and later Gouda cheese, crackers and deli potato salad in Walmart for dinner.

Faith has been on the 5-2 eating program for several months: Eat all you want for five days of the week and only 400-500 calories on two days. It has worked well for her and the semi-fasting days are good for us. I thought I might try it to impose discipline on my bad food choices lately, but completely forgot about until I ate too many nutritionally weak calories, including a Starbuck's Rice-Krispy cookie (very good, BTW). My days of somewhat faithful yoga, walking, drinking enough water, vitamins, arm weights, sit-ups and eating at least four fruits and/or veggies have been seriously and detrimentally disrupted. Jeez, who can I blame????

Patuxent NWR - MD

Blue Goose ~ Days 104 - 107

September 11, 2014 to September 14, 2014 ~ Shady Side, MD

A restorative, much appreciated weekend with Faith and Bob...thank you so much

- lovely home with natural light and generous windows and porches and great old trees filtering the sunlight...

- the beautiful bay and the constant and ever-changing play of sun and wind, with sailboats and the Bay Bridge in the distance...

Bob and Faith's dock on the Chesapeake

- resident birds: an Osprey, Laughing Gulls, a Great Blue Heron, a Bald Eagle..

- delicious blue crab soup at a local diner..

- a quick trip to the Muddy Creek Art show followed by dinner at Skipper's with mussels and shrimp, watching the sun settle in the west...

- finally getting to see Twenty Feet from Stardom..

- a motorboat ride over choppy waters late Saturday afternoon, dodging crab pots all the way...

Tom, Captain Bob and Faith

- good food, of course...always good food at the Os..

-hiking the Smithsonian property Sunday afternoon with Faith while Bob crewed in a sailboat race, the boat being a Cheapeake 20...

Work clothes - Smithsonian property near the Rhode River, MD

- watching the first of Ken Burns' Roosevelt documentary...

- meeting a fellow birder, their friend Tom S., who just became the president of the Maryland Ornithological Society..

- working intermittently...

- reading, especially nice late afternoon on Sunday as the sunshine warmed us but wasn't hot...

- bringing Faith to the commuter bus early Monday morning on my way to Patuxent NWR


THANK YOU BOTH...

Blue Goose ~ Day 103

September 11, 2014 ~ Easton, MD to Shady Side, MD

I thought there was a Starbucks nearby, and there was, but it was in a grocery store with no tables / WiFi space....just coffee from a brusque, not very friendly young lady, almost unheard for a Starbuck's employee. 

But the coffee was good....yes, I probably am addicted to Starbuck's coffee...

Eastern Neck NWR is two hours north northwest of Easton, with even more of an off-by-itself feel  than most refuges, probably because it is an entire island. The small town of Rock Hill is five miles to the north. I drove over an old bridge, saw the refuge sign and parked to look out over the choppy waters of Chesapeake Bay. A couple was fishing and said there was water over the road to the refuge so they had turned around. Only a duck blind and a  couple of small fishing boats were visible. As always, when one approaches a refuge, signs of civilization and commerce diminish. Which I like...and birds are more immediately more abundant. 

I went on and there was water on the road but not that much.

Eastern Neck NWR - MD

A lovely dark brown cedar-shingled VC was staffed by women volunteers. As I walked in, I heard one of them say to whomever she was talking to on the phone: "I'll call you back; we have a visitor..." And then we talked for 15 minutes or so. She said it wouldn't take much for her also "to get sand in my shoes" when I told her what I was doing. She looked at me quizzically at one point after reading my name on the visitor log and asked if I were Anna Quindlen? She also wondered if I were a "Fitzgerald" as I reminded her of someone she knew who apparently is a Fitzgerald. (It's sort of digital: either people are interested and ask questions and seem envious or they barely acknowledge what I've said when I tell them what I'm doing.)

There is a national organization of Friends (of the refuges) who staff the gift shops, raise monies, volunteer time and are often the interface between the public and a particular refuge. So this woman was a Friend of Eastern Neck. Her sister from Pennsylvania was visiting and handing around also and then the buyer / manager showed up. It was as much of a social interlude as I have nowadays. 

I was somewhat apathetic at this refuge and half-heartedly drove the few roads open to the public, leery of the fly menace-annoynace and did, in fact, notice a few, but then found myself at the Butterfly Garden / Trail. I thought immediately of Deborah as I meandered on the paths, right on the edge of the Bay, with a variety of flowering plants, blue blue sky above and Northern Mockingbirds all over. I knew she would love this place.

Butterfly Garden - Eastern Neck NWR - MD

I walked the half mile trail first next to a meadow and then through woods, seeing two Ovenbirds, a Black and White Warbler, a Blue Jay, a Northern Parula (first of those on this trip)...more Mockingbirds, a Brown Thrasher...all foraging in this pretty habitat next to the Bay...sans flies or mosquitoes. Once again, I was glad I pushed myself just enough to get out of the car. On the way back to the main road, I watched three immature Bald Eagles fly around a small freshwater pond. Some of this refuge is contracted out and is farmed, so  part of the road wound between nearly dry corn stalks. 

Seaside Sparrow...still on my mind as I walked a short boardwalk over the salt marsh. I tried again and pished up (again) a curious Marsh Wren but no SS. Well, I tell myself, it's good to have a quest. 

I eBirded what I saw, the first time I've done that on this trip. 

Two hours later, and 30 minutes after crossing the beautiful Bay Bridge, I arrived in Shady Side, at the lovely bayside home of Faith and Bob. It was mid afternoon, very warm (too warm to sit in the sun on the end of the dock), so I found a comfortable chair on their screened porch, and settled in with a glass of wine and a book. Eventually, I soaked in a tub and scrounged in the kitchen for something to eat. After dinner, clean and somewhat revived, I headed to the dock again and just got comfortable when the rain began. But I was tired so chose a bedroom, opened the windows and slept soundly.

Blue Goose ~ Day 102

September 10, 2014 ~ Seaford, DE to Easton, MD

I'd been looking forward to Blackwater NWR because it is large and because of its name, now notorious for nefarious or necessary activities (depending on one's point of view) but these two entities are certainly at opposite ends of some undefined spectrum. 

The impressive Visitor Center had the usual mix of exhibits, written information, a book / gift store and a volunteer eager to inform the occasional interested person / people who stops here. Blackwater at one time was the home of Nanticoke and Choptank Indians but they were "driven out" in the mid 18th century (1750s) and "deforestation" began. Historically, it also was famous for muskrat trapping (for the fur). The gentleman at the desk told me that local muskrats had at one time been exported to Europe and that DNA testing today on European muskrats would prove that. 

(Also of note is Harriet Tubman's birthplace near Blackwater, recognized and honored with an educational center, a museum and a self-guided auto tour.)

I noticed that one of the exhibits featured Black Rails, one of the most elusive of American birds, a tiny rail that is seldom seen by anyone and usually identified when vocalizing....at night...deep in a marsh.  (Maria always thought she had seen a Black Rail once and we often discussed the possibility.)

The deal here was huge flies...deer or horse or something else, but huge and numerous.

Huge fly on windshield - Blackwater NWR - MD

I drove with the windows tightly closed and it sounded like I was in a popcorn popper as they constantly clicking against the glass. I just now googled something like "large flies at Blackwater" and several posts mentioned them. Their presence would preclude anyone but the most intrepid from walking or cycling. This must be an intermittent invasion???? 

The bird presence was about 1% of the numbers I have been seeing at the refuges to the east...just a few egrets and an occasional Great Blue Heron, although without the fly distraction, I would have seen more in the woods I am sure. 

As I said, this is a large refuge but not much is accessible by car, so I went north to Easton, MD, where I stayed the night, eating at an Applebee's adjacent to the Walmart parking lot. 

Finished reading Valley of Amazement (Amy Tan) and liked it. This is a story set mostly in Shanghai 100 years ago and is complete with a beginning, middle and an ending. I skimmed a Jodi Picoult book (Mercy) wishing I hadn't spent the $10 to buy it. She has definitely written better books. 

Salt marsh - Blackwater NWR - MD

Blackwater NWR - MD

Blue Goose ~ Day 101

September 9, 2014 ~ Middletown, NJ to Seaford, DE

It wasn't far to Bombay Hook NWR from Middletown, but I had to detour. I had opted to take a scenic route and soon came on a sign "Water Over Road" but there wasn't, so I continued, however, several miles later saw another sign and there was...significant water. Hmmm....I started through, thinking it couldn't be THAT deep, but the van has very little clearance and I chickened out, backed up and stopped at the nearest house. A woman was taking clothes off the line. She said I should just "go through Smyrna so I wouldn't get stuck or stranded" like she had been asked this many times before. It was weird because in every other situation like this, there have been more warnings and barricades. With a truck, or maybe even with a Subaru, I would have gone on through. This was a fairly main route, not a dinky little barely travelled road so I guess locals are used to it.

WWW.GORP.COM

Bombay Hook stems from "Bompies Hoeck," the name meaning "little-tree point" given to the wetlands by a Dutch settler who bought the area from Indians for one gun, four hands full of powder, three waistcoats, one anchor of liquor, and one kettle.

At the Visitor Center, a couple of women kindly allowed me to interrupt their conversation and answered my few questions. This refuge has an auto route, again through salt marshes and woods. Very quickly, I came on an elderly woman standing at a scope looking over thousands of shorebirds. The bugs, mercifully, were mostly absent at this particular spot, probably due to a good breeze. So I, too, got out  my scope and looked through Black-bellied Plovers, trying to find an American Golden Plover; moved briefly through the numerous peeps (small sandpipers) without attempting to ID all of them (most were Semipalmated SPs); and watching dozens of black and white-plumaged American Avocets in a feeding frenzy, moving quickly through the water, head low, bills scooping whatever it is they eat....

American Avocets - Bombay Hook NWR - DE

...more egrets, herons, gulls, eagles....and the Allee House.

Allee House - Bombay Hook NWR - DE

WWW.FRIENDSOFBOMBAYHOOK.ORG

The Allee House, which is located on refuge property just east of the Dutch Neck Road/Route 9 intersection, is the refuge's historic treasure. It was built in the mid-1750's by Abraham Allee, the son of a French Huguenot (followers of Calvinism who were persecuted in France for their religious beliefs), and is considered to be among the finest examples of an early Delaware farmhouse. The house remained in the Allee family for several generations before it was sold in 1828 to pay off a legal debt. It was owned by several prominent Delaware families before being sold to the United States government in 1962. In 1971, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

I continued south down the east side of Delaware to Prime Hook, NWR. It was late afternoon and the offices were closed so I just drove some of the refuge roads, seeing more shorebirds and egrets and gulls.

Egrets - Prime Hook NWR - DE

Right outside the refuge entrance on the east, on Delaware Bay, were three large realty signs. A couple of sports cars raced by me at high speed. But for now anyway, the birds have these places to rest, nest and replenish. The salt marshes are lovely in their visual simplicity...just grasses to the horizon with occasional meandering waterways.

Still searching for a Seaside Sparrow in this habitat....

I stopped at a Walmart in Georgetown which didn't measure up to my increasingly critical review so went on a few miles to Seaford, Delaware, where I spent the night.

Blue Goose ~ Day 100

September 8, 2014 ~ Rio Grande City, NJ to Middletown, DE

I slept 100% better in my darkened spot but woke at 4:52, probably because I had set the alarm since I was going on a guided bird walk at 0730 at Cape May Meadows.

WWW.NATURE.ORG

Situated at the southwest tip of the Cape May peninsula, The South Cape May Meadows Preserve, includes over 200 acres of critical habitat in the globally renowned birding hot spot of Cape May, NJ. The preserve is replete with dunes, freshwater wetlands, meadows, ponds, and a full mile of protected beach. The Cape May peninsula acts as a funnel for birds migrating along the Atlantic Flyway and the land protected there provides foraging and resting habitat for birds before they cross Delaware Bay. The preserve’s loop trail provides visitors with wildlife viewing opportunities in both a freshwater wetland and on an undeveloped beach, a rarity on the heavily developed Jersey shoreline. An estimated 300,000 visitors enjoy the preserve’s natural beauty each year.
Historic Connection:Just offshore, the remnants of the town of South Cape May lie scattered on the ocean floor. The Victorian Resort town, established in the 1840’s included a modest number of vacation cottages in its prime, but most were destroyed by a storm and overtaken by the ocean in the early 1950’s. The few homes that survived the storm were moved to new locations within West Cape May and Cape May City. Grazing cattle helped to maintain an open meadow following the town’s destruction. After the preserve was established by the Conservancy, and the cattle moved on to more nutritious pastures, the wetland and meadow were overtaken by the common reed, Phragmites a highly invasive plant.
Ecosystem Restored:The face of the preserve dramatically changed once again in 2004, when the Conservancy teamed with the Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to restore the Meadows freshwater wetland and beach ecosystems. The project area included both The South Cape May Meadows Preserve and the adjacent Cape May Point State Park, this project was the first of its kind undertaken in New Jersey and has been a marked success. The goal was to return the degraded landscape to a more productive, and natural state to benefit both the wildlife and the residents of local communities by adding protection from coastal flooding. Elements of the project included replenishment of an eroded beach, building up of the dunes, restoration of freshwater flow through the wetland, control of the invasive common reed Phragmites, creation of shorebird foraging and resting areas within the wetland, and installation of water control structures. While the process of re-engineering the wetland and beach was very intrusive, the ecosystem proved its resilience and has not only recovered, but flourished in the seven years since the completion of the project. When the preserve re-opened in June of 2007 it not only featured important enhancements for wildlife, but also amenities for visitors; including a gravel parking lot, information booth, improved trail system, and an observation platform.

I got coffee and a bagel and headed south. Pete Dunne and several other local members of the CMBO and NJ Audubon led the hike. It was overcast but warm enough...very pleasant for a couple of hours of birding. I also asked Mr. Dunne to sign one his books for me which, of course, he graciously did.

Birding hike at Cape May Meadows - NJ

There were about 25 of us, and it was perfect for me as I saw a life bird - the Prairie Warbler. We were on the trail at a slight rise near the beaches and someone behind said, "I've got a Prairie Warbler..." and I basically turned around, searched with verbal instructions ("see the large bush...and the dead brush in front; it's in the low flowering plant in front to the left of the dead bush....oops, now it dropped...oh, it just popped up to the right of that hole in the large bush...") and saw quick but adequate glimpses twice!

We also saw 50+ other birds, including a Lesser Black-backed Gull. These guided hikes are a pleasure. To see a life bird in the company of such illustrious birders and gentlemen as Pete Dunne and his friends on this early September morning at Cape May Meadows will always be a favorite story. Scott of "warbler book" fame was also along on this hike. Remember, DHC, the hike we took with the authors of that book at Magee in May?

A few of the dozens of ID tips:

Merlins: "dark and direct"
Merlin vs. Kestrel: "If that was a Merlin, we wouldn't still be talking about it" meaning they are FAST
Peregrine: "flies with elastic wing motion...very fluid"
Mixed flocks of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers: "This time of year, Least are reddish; Semis are more grey"

Cooper's Hawk - Cape May Meadows - NJ

Pete was thanking people "for birding with me" as we left the parking lot.

(I laughed at signs announcing the October Lima Bean Festival. Cape May seems an unlikely venue for such...)

The rest of the morning and afternoon I drove up the west side of the peninsula through old small towns with names like Bivalve and Dividing Creek.

I stopped at the Cape May NWR headquarters and the manager immediately came out and was most friendly, answering any questions, not seeming the least bit bothered by the interruption and, in fact, as I was leaving he said, "Thank you for noticing the National Wildlife Refuges." He had worked at several others, putting in time on the high plains in North Dakota as a botanist, "dissecting sedges in motel rooms night after night....it really isn't all that hard once you start doing it..." Although brief, this was one of the nicer encounters with personnel at a refuge. Cape May has a lot of property, but it is scattered and, except for the Great Cedar Swamp portion in the middle of the peninsula, these pieces are mostly non-contiguous. They are constantly acquiring more land as it becomes available or is donated as a nice piece of beach "down at the end of the road" was recently. This has to be so gratifying for anyone concerned with protecting habitat for wildlife.

Someone had told me a good place for Seaside Sparrows was the Cook Beach road, close to the Cape May offices. I spent an hour there waiting for one, looking out over the salt marsh, not seeing sparrows. I did watch an eagle chase an Osprey carrying a fish, and while the Osprey dropped it, the eagle didn't get it either. And a Marsh Wren popped up briefly very near the road. The barrier islands and beaches on the coast and large bays are either protected or developed or posted with realtor signs.  I think of the Pacific coast or much of the Great Lakes where, at least, the development is elevated significantly above the beaches. Here, so much is nearly at sea level.

Salt marsh - Cook Beach - NJ

Terns: Royal and Forster's - Cook's Beach - NJ

I got some really really awful food at a gas station: potato wedges and "jambalaya" which was dried out dirty rice with tired chunks of sausage and no liquid. Most went in the trash.

The last stop was at Supawna NWR near the bridge to Delaware. I only stopped briefly at a trailhead where two teenage boys seemed to be furtively doing something...with open car trunks. One rarely sees teenagers on the trails. The woods here were exceptionally dark and deep with tall trees and understory. Really dark and not exactly inviting on a gloomy afternoon. Supawna is also managed from the Cape May offices.

Once across the bridge, I got into massive high-speed traffic but exited soon in Middletown where I stayed for the night. The houses on the main streets are built flush with the sidewalk, just 20 feet or so from the street. Like bedrooms or living rooms are almost on the brick sidewalks. These are old homes. Where there is significant water (rivers or bays), one sees the oldest buildings.