Brigantine Section of Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey

August 2006

Just 10 miles north of Atlantic City is the Brigantine portion of the Edwin B Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, which when combined with the Barnegat portion to the north, totals about 45,000 acres of bays and marshland with some great kayaking.

I launched from the remote boat ramp on Scott's Landing Road near Leed's Point (birthplace of the Jersey Devil). Despite a strong breeze, the greenheads were out in force.

I put in at about 11:15 in the morning. Low tide had been at about 9:30 and high tide out in the channels would be around 3:15. A clammer coming in from a morning of working the bay told me that it was getting choppy out on Great Bay. I had planned on taking the channel out towards Oyster Creek and heading southeast across the bay towards Egg Island. With the wind from the northeast, I would have to paddle 2.5 miles on the bay while getting hit broadside by waves. Not today.

 

Instead I paddled through the channel to Hammock Cove (Dry Cove according to the clammer, due to its "shallowness" during extreme low tides). Once in Little Bay I headed south to Shed Island. and then east across Little Bay into Simkin's Thorofare.

A pair of cormorants were drying their wings in the narrow, unnamed, northeasterly channel that connects Simkin's Thorofare with Great Thorofare (which runs along the south end of Egg Island in the middle of the map).

Upon rounding a bend near the southern tip of Egg Island, I saw about six turtles sliding off the bank into the water. I originally thought they were Painted Turtles, but after a closer look at the coloring, I'm not sure what kind they are.

These three kept an eye on me until I got too close. After paddling by, I looked off to the other side of the channel to spot a few other heads keeping a lookout.

 

 

 

Heading north through a small channel on the west side of Egg Island, I came across this great Blue Heron hanging out with a whole slew of turtles.

 

 

 

 

Close-up. If you look closely, notice that his (her?) head is not as pointy as it first appears.

Standing room only for cormorants on an old, abandoned barge on the west side of Hammock Cove.

By this time (3:30) the wind had shifted and was now coming from the southeast, which made for some easy paddling up through Hammock Cove and the channel to the launch area. Based on my topo map of the area, the trip was close to 12 miles in all.

Sedge Islands Conservation Area

Island Beach State Park, New Jersey

The area within the map's orange boundary is the Sedge Islands Conservation Area at the southern tip of Island Beach State Park.

This spot is a great kayaking area - the islands form a barrier against the wind and waves from the Barnegat Inlet and personal watercraft are not allowed.

The area is full of herons, egrets, osprey and cormorants along with a wide variety of smaller species.

September 8, 2006: Second trip of the summer to this spot featured the usual numerous sightings of egrets, herons and cormorants (see past trips below). However the highlight of this trip was the spotting of an osprey flying overhead with a fish in its talons near Osprey Pond.

August 9, 2006: A return to this conservation area within NJ's Island Beach State Park (see 2005 trip below). Like last year, it was a beautiful 80 degree day with low humidity and a light breeze.

Starting at the second kayak launch area, I headed south on the Little Bay trail (black dotted line on map). I passed the first of many osprey nests as I entered "Snake Ditch" a channel that runs down into Little Bay (not to be confused with the Little Bay that's just north of Brigantine).

On the way out of Little Bay (headed west towards Sea Dog Island Thorofare) I met up with some cormorants sunning themselves.

In Sea Dog Channel I passed several Little Blue Herons, including this one as it was stalking lunch.

I headed east through Horsefoot Slough and on through the channel back into the main cove.

Then headed north past the houseboat and on to Hensler Island (the little island in the northwestern corner of the map). The NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife has a Natural Resource Education Center on the island and a small group was getting ready to head out as I passed by.

 

Great Egret in Sea Dog Channel

I paddled around Hensler Island and was met by a strong headwind from the north/northeast. I returned down to Main Island (the island just below Hensler) and paddled into a small channel heading south through the middle of the island.

Along the narrow, winding channel I spotted the Great Blue Heron to the left.

On my way back out of the channel, I met up with the group from the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife. They invited me to join them, but I wanted to head over towards Osprey Pond and Spizzle Creek so I declined. Looking back, I wish I hadn't.

I crossed the cove and finished the day with a quick look up through Spizzle Creek.

Sedge Islands Conservation Area

October 3, 2005

This was my first time (finally) into this great area within NJ's Island Beach State Park -- a beautiful 80 degree day that I figured would be the last nice day of my "summer" paddling at The Shore.

I launched from "Area 21" which is the second kayak/canoe launching area in the park and headed west along the northern part of the Marsh Elder Trail (the red trail on map above).

 

After approaching the northern islands, I turned south towards a couple of clammers. As this picture shows, the water in some areas between the Sedge Islands and Island Beach gets extremely shallow when its not high tide. "Old Barney" stands beyond the protective dike and across Barnegat Inlet (not nearly as close as it looks here).

 

I then abandoned the Marsh Elder Trail and headed southeast, around Houseboat Point and down through "Snake Ditch" which was relatively deep and emptied into Little Bay.

 

I paddled through beautiful Little Bay (and it is little) and headed west through Sea Dog Island Thorofare (the southern stretch of the Little Bay Trail shown in blue on the map).

I came around a slight bend in the channel and looked to my left to see this great blue heron about 20 feet to my left. I sat motionless and let the outgoing tidal current carry me past.

I headed west into Barnegat Bay, but there were too many boats so I headed east into Horsefoot Slough and on through the channel that takes both trails back into the main cove between the islands and Island beach.

As I paddled through the channel, I spotted this great egret in flight.

Once out of the channel, I headed northeast, straight into a strong breeze, and made my way up above the put-in towards Osprey Pond.

 

In the trees just north of the entrance to Osprey Pond I spotted three great egrets, including this one to the left.

 

I finished up a fantastic day of paddling by heading south along the shore to the launch area.

Paddled up Cedar Creek to outlet into Long Creek Pond. Very strong winds from North and N/NW weren't a factor until I began heading N/NE. Hugging the shore or hiding behind islands helped.

Not as many wildlife as some other trips to the south, possibly due to the wind (birds heading north had a worse time of it than me). Weekday, so only other humans were in a small sailboat in bay.

After about an hour and forty five minutes, turned around. Coming back was a breeze - even though the way back was a slightly longer distance, got back in 1:15.

Two pictures from a June 2005 trip to same area in Barnegat Bay - this time around Turtle Cove and the islands northeast of the cove.

Good news - the road to the Bridge To Nowhere was no longer blocked.

 

April 2004 kayak trip down the Oswego River in the New Jersey Pinelands. We put in at Lake Oswego and paddled down to Harrisville Lake. This was taken from a stop along the west bank of Martha Pond, which is a long narrow "pond' with channels braiding around a slew of islands (that's an island on the right; sorry about the water drops on lens). Very scenic and the water level was higher than usual for this stream (don't try it during a summer drought). The 14' Cape Horn and Carolina kayaks were a challenge in some of the narrower areas with their tight, twisting turns but we managed.

Great trip.