Collection from my time visiting family down in Maryalnd. Always nice to get away to some new scenery. They have an amazing flower garden where I always spend my time photographing the amazing pops of color and shapes. This time of year the lilies were blooming. Encounters with some bee’s and dragonflies even a ruby throated hummingbird and box turtle.
I was on my morning walkabout at Alumni Field Park in Hackettstown. As I was walking along the river trail I heard the low thump- thump- thump- over the water. I walked to the rivers edge and looked up stream to see a male pileated woodpecker working a dead tree. From my vantage it was difficult to get a clear view of him. Sometimes the essence of the experience is the real story. I did manage to get some glimpses of him through the trees.
Walking along the Musconetcong River in Alumni Park I was pretty excited to spot a great blue heron in the middle of the river- as I have seen so many times. Then I watched as it quickly walked to the bank. Next thing I knew I watched as it plucked a big fish out of the river. I watched as it positioned the fish and then down its gullet it went. Post feed it flew downstream a little bit landing on a log to digest . It soon took to the air flying further down stream and out of site. Great end to my morning walkabout!
While on my morning walkabout I came upon the second buck of the day. He was feeding on a trail between the old hatchery ponds.
While on my morning walkabout I came across a few deer grazing along and in one of the old hatchery ponds. A doe moved across the pond and as she stepped onto the far bank and into the woods a fawn stood up and followed her disappearing into the thickets that lined the bank.
I have always had a problem with stacked rocks or cairns as they are better known as. Cairns are human stacked rocks or mounds of stones used globally since prehistoric times.Traditionally they act as landmarks, burial sites or trail markers. This meaning is fine with me but when I see these stacked rocks and that is not the intention and it is done as a form of expression in our natural world that is where I have the problem. Unauthorized stacking leads to the disruption of wildlife habitat, accelerates erosion, and misleads hikers.
During COVID I frequented my favorite walking spot along the Musconetcong River where I witnessed such stacking of rocks to create a pool for swimming. It was beautifully crafted and had a very nice curve as it stretched across the river. As soon as I saw it my heart sank. All that river stone was shifted disrupting all the macroinvertebrates that call those rocks home and use them for feeding where they can thrive creating a clean healthy river. Benthic macroinvertebrates are small bottom dwelling aquatic animals without a backbone that are big enough to see with the naked eye. They include dragonfly larvae, snails, worms, beetles, and crayfish just to name a few. Because they live in sediment and can not easily escape pollution, they are critical to the aquatic food web and serve as excellent indicators of river and lake health. So during a 4 week period I would remove the stacked rocks and place them back in the river. The following week I would check on the area and the stacked rocks would be back in place which I would then dismantle. This went on for a few weeks until one day I met a little boy who asked me why I was taking down the rock wall. I explained to him that it was not good for the river and that it was disrupting the habitat below for the critters that lived amongst the rocks. He said oh…ok. After that conversation the rock wall was never seen again. It was that moment that I came to the realization that people do not understand the long-term consequences of their actions and all it takes sometimes is a little education to curb those behaviors.
All this being said I still frequently walk at that same park. There is a section of woods that separates Alumni Field Park and River Front Park. In those woods I occasionally spot colorfully painted rocks tucked along the trail. Some have inspiring notes painted on them. Some have little designs on them. Some are just painted solid colors. During the winter ornaments are randomly hung on trees around the wooded paths or ever figures tucked in the nooks of trees. At first I took slight offense to these marring my experience in nature. When out in nature I like to feel like I am experiencing the space as untouched by people- no litter, no unnatural tethers of the human world. Obviously I know the trails I walk or the boat launch I use have been engineered by people but when on the water or trail I do not want to see any trappings of humans on my path. That breaks the façade I have m=in my mind of being “alone”in nature. But over time walking daily in this park I have grown to really enjoy spotting these little Easter Eggs scattered in the park. When I see a new one tucked in the hollow of a tree it makes me smile. Or I see one with the painted sun it does add to my experience. I have seen on a few occasions a parent with their small children paper bag in hand full of painted rocks the kids have made gleefully hiding them as they walk along the wooded paths. Because the park is in town and gets a lot of use for me in this instance these little cairns and markers are ok with me. They do what they are intended and that is to brighten your day as you walk the trails. Often the rocks will simply disappear as quickly as they appeared. Folks may find them so inspirational that they may grab them as their own personal totem and I think that’s ok too. I feel it all falls in that pay it forward mentality. Someone could be walking in the park because they are having a bad day or feeling at their lowest and they come upon a painted rock that says SHINE on it. That could make all the difference to that individual and can lead to a life altering moment. You just never know how someone will react to a positive message and that is how I see these little easter eggs that are left around the park.
A great early morning paddle on the upper Musconetcong River leaving from the Lock 4 West boat launch and paddling down to Saxton Falls and up to Pyramid Point where I turned back and paddled downstream back to the launch. Amazing encounters and sites along the whole trip.
The Musky never disappoints.
Paddling upstream on the Musconetcong River just below Saxton Lake I came upon a great blue heron perched on a drowned tree limb in the river. I watched the bird as I quietly glided toward it. Surprisingly it did not fly away right away like so many of the other herons I encounter do. This one was very patient while all around it the river activity continued. Behind on the far bank the swan family and a wood duck family swam around the river flora. Another great blue heron flew down the far bank landing in an over hanging tree. While all along the red-wing blackbirds sang their songs around me. It was a brilliant encounter and one for the books for sure.
The last week of May was full of encounters on my walkabouts, not only with critters but also with light. The early morning light paints the landscape in ways the continually change. The flora is changed by the shadows and highlights. The bright sun that finds its way through the trees and spotlights a skunk cabbage leaf in brilliant green is our magic. It was a fantastic week on the trails and here are some highlights.
I was on my morning walkabout at Alumni Filed Park when I came across a snapping turtle preparing a whole to lay her eggs in. I observed her for a bit while she rested from digging. I then left her. to continue the task at hand. Every day at the park reveals some sort of experience. This was one I have yet to come across in all my years on the trials.
NJ Flat Water Kayaker 