Note: This blog is about a trip I took on the weekend of May 20th.
My boyfriend and I went to the Pocono’s this weekend for his cousin’s wedding, and afterwards decided to do some nature viewing. Note: If I posted pictures of a bird I saw on the trip, I’ll add the tag line of (posted) just for the sake of ease. On the drive to Big Pocono State Park (Camelback Mountain) we got a little lost but ended up seeing some wild turkeys (posted) as a result! There seemed to be an adult male, a female and an immature male. The adult male was going through his mating displays which were awesome… though I always got the backend of his displays, making for less than spectacular photos. I then heard a very strange bird sound coming from behind me. It was like clucking, but different (we’ve had chickens before and this wasn’t a chicken cluck). All of a sudden I see this bizarre chicken-esque bird (posted) coming at me, making a racket and generally showing it’s displeasure with me being on the side of the road. It wasn’t a chicken though, not a normal one at least - it was black / dark brown with small white spots on it’s back, it’s neck was tawny brown, it’s head had a big white patch on each cheek, the top of it’s head was black with a small orange projection at the very top, and had red side flaps around her beak. It was being followed by an ordinary rooster. My family members think it was a guinea fowl… but I’m not sure – though I agree it was very likely a domesticated bird. Thankfully, it didn’t actually attack me. We checked our map and got back underway to Big Pocono. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and I had the toughest and most exhilarating hike I’ve ever had (just starting to hike too, we did the Indian and Orange Trails), but didn’t see much in the way of birds or wildlife, except for insects, mysterious animal scat, and a freshly killed blue jay sans its head. :-( At one point during the hike, we got to a small ledge with a fantastic, unobstructed view of the world below. We even got to see a turkey vulture soaring high above the land, but still very far below us! We saw a glace of an Eastern Towhee, a live blue jay, several crows and a catbird on our visit to Big Pocono too. After our hike, I swapped my camera for a sandwich and we ate our lunch outside of the not-yet-opened-for-the-season Cameltop restaurant (still in the park), and got to see a Cooper’s hawk rise above the ridge and fly right past us! As much as I tried though, my egg salad sandwich wouldn’t take a good picture. On our way home, we stopped by the Delaware Water Gap to take a long and leisurely drive on the scenic Old Mine Road (on the NJ side). It is absolutely gorgeous out there! The road is lined with beautiful woods and small waterfalls. The scent of wildflowers and damp trees filled the air while the sounds of rustling leaves, gently rushing water, and melodic bird songs accompanied us the whole way. I caught a glimpse of one of those singing beauties (posted) – it was yellow all over, with some darker, long stripes on it’s chest. It was rather small too, but it was alone and fast so I couldn’t compare it. I have a less than ideal photo of it and I believe that it may have been a common yellow throat. I also believe I saw a Northern Flicker. We stopped at Worthington State Forest’s boat launching area and amongst the huge blue sky with mammoth white clouds, the leisurely paced river, and the green covered island, we saw a swarm of speedy dark birds with white bellies chasing each other over the water. I tried to video and photo them for ID, but no luck. We continued our drive on Old Mine Road and after a long while, we decided to turn back. On our way back we saw more wildlife than I have ever seen before in one trip! It was around 6 or 7pm. First we saw a small, immature raptor sitting in a tree (posted). Then we saw a strange, raccoon sized mammal crossing the street… only it didn’t look like a raccoon. Upon closer inspection we saw that it was actually a PORCUPINE!!! I didn’t even know we had them in NJ. Next we saw a comical deer biting off more than it could chew in the way of huge bundles of vines. Further down the road we saw a cute raccoon digging up some earth before crossing the street right in front of us. Finally, just as we were leaving the park, we saw one of my personal holy grails of land mammals: a black bear just as it was leaving the road! We turned around and drove through again, in the hopes of seeing more bears and were rewarded with at least two more beautiful black bears. I’ve never been a bear fan, they always seemed so dopey and dangerous. But after seeing them in person, I am a total convert. Their fur is absolutely beautiful – shiny black with tones of a deep rich browns. One looked right at me then walked gently off into the forest before sitting in a big bundle of plants looking sweet. I had to use a rather high ISO on my camera to get any shots at all, making them all have too much noise for a really good picture – but I’ll cherish them forever anyway. I’m not sure if I should post non-bird pictures, so I’m not for now. So here I am, back home and sharing my experience. I hope that if anyone out there gets a chance to drive down Old Mine Road in the Delaware Water Gap in NJ, that they definitely won’t pass it up. I think driving through at sunset increased our chances of seeing wildlife. Just… stay in your car and don’t feed the bears, k? ^_^
