Maurice River Estuary

Maurice River Estuary, NJ Coastal Heritage Trail (7/21/2012)

This is Hike #43 ("The Maurice River Estuary") in the book Hiking New Jersey: A Guide to 50 of the Garden State's Greatest Hiking Adventures (2009) with the addition of every side trip described in the book. This was the last of four wonderful hikes we did in southern coastal New Jersey the week of July 16 and my own personal favorite. Its remoteness (it took quite a number of twists and turns from Cape May to get here) guaranteed solitude and on this Saturday morning we owned it, being the only two hikers on this beautiful path. The only two hikers. Scanning the photos you can clearly see that there were about a thousand birds that shared the area this morning. Oh! And a mink! Yes, we saw a mink slink quickly and quietly across the path too fast for me to get a photo. And, believe it or not, I almost stepped on another snake! But this one was mostly likely a non-venomous black rat snake. I did get a photo of him slithering away.

I think I had more fun taking photos on this hike than any so far this year, getting closer to more egrets and ibises than I ever imagined. The macro shot of the patient cicada at the end was an extra bonus! That loud boy gave himself away with his deafening chirp. I found him easily, even though he hushed as soon as I approached.

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