Other noteworthy areas around Raymond Pool include the observation tower, a short walk from the first parking area on the left (N) side of the road, and the boardwalk trail, which enters the woods on the right (S) side of the road, just a few hundred yards beyond the tower parking lot. The woods at the beginning of the boardwalk trail can be particularly good for migrant songbirds. The boardwalk trail itself is a great place to see breeding Marsh Wrens and Seaside Sparrows and to listen for rails. Both of these spots are reached on the one-way portion of the Auto Tour before Tour Stop #3.
Shearness Pool hosts a great variety of waterbirds, as does the open area of salt marsh to its east, called Leatherberry Flats (Tour Stop #5). The Snow Goose spectacle here from late October into midwinter is often stunning and Bald Eagles are frequently seen here at all seasons. Leatherberry Flats can appear as a huge brackish pool, or as a vast mudflat, depending on wind and tide.
Bear Swamp Pool, which hasn't had bears for a very long time, does tend to have lots of birds. Traditionally productive areas include the SE (Tour Stop #7) and NE corners of the large impoundment, where shorebirds, ducks, and waders are often numerous. Finis Pool (Tour Stop #13) presents a very different face of Bombay Hook - a smaller, freshwater pond with a luxuriant growth of aquatic plants, surrounded by tall deciduous woods . . .
Click to Continue
Other Birding Sites in the Delaware Bay Coast Region:
- Woodland Beach Wildlife Area
- Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
- Little Creek Wildlife Area
- Ted Harvey Cons. Area - Logan Lane Tract
- Milford Neck
- Slaughter Beach
- Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge
