Amazing free NJ wildlife spots they don’t want everyone to know about

Travel far enough in any given direction in New Jersey — say an hour — and it can quickly seem like you’re in a different state altogether.

Case in point: My day trip down to some of the farthest reaches of South Jersey (I live outside Trenton) where the wonders of nature proceeded to blow my urban mind.

Could this really be New Jersey?

Before I go further, let me say that my avid birdwatching friends were not keen on me publicizing these two incredible nature spots. The locations are well-known among birders and nature photographers (of which I am neither), and perhaps locals, but not most anyone else.

That needs to change.

Great egrets, snowy egrets, glossy ibises, white ibises, tricolored herons and yellow-crowned herons. Some of these birds I never knew existed, let alone that they lived in abundance in the Garden State.

Where are these amazing nature spots in New Jersey?

My Sunday in April began early in the morning in the coastal salt marshes outside Galloway.

The Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, established 40 years ago, is 48,000 acres of ecosystems and scenic trails.

The Wildlife Drive is what I draw your attention to.

After leaving the $4 car entrance fee at the unstaffed entrance, you drive (slowly) in an 8-mile loop and take in the sights. It's almost like the Meadowlands, without the Turnpike.

With the skyline of Atlantic City as a backdrop, we counted a dozen bird species – the most impressive of which were a half dozen bald eagles, many of them still juveniles. (Great news considering these birds – our nation’s symbol — were once almost extinct in the United States.)

No need for a hike. While binoculars help, you can hear and see the birds from the comfort of your vehicle.

Hundreds of interesting birds

The wildlife refuge loop would have been worth the car trip alone but we weren’t done.

We then drove 25-30 minutes south to the Ocean City Welcome & Information Center, which I had passed many times for weekend stays in Ocean City but never paid any mind.

The Welcome Center is on a salt marsh island in the middle of Great Egg Harbor Bay. Its exit is right in the middle of the Route 52 bridge.

But it’s not the welcome center that’s the attraction (though they do have nice restrooms). It’s the rookery – a colony of nearly a dozen species of birds just nesting below the concrete ramps of the busy causeway.

These birds, mind you, are not out in the distance. You don’t need binoculars at all. Hundreds fly over people’s heads and land in trees and bushes mere yards from reach.

For someone looking to try out their expensive camera with shots of exotic-looking birds, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. I just used my iPhone.

Best part of all: It’s free.

For years, threatened and endangered birds have been making a comeback in New Jersey.

It's not just bennys and shoobies and locals who love our beaches. So do piping plovers, who seem to dig Sandy Hook up north, the Forsyth Wildlife Refuge down south, and many Shore points in between.

While some species need their space, the birds at the Ocean City Rookery have no qualms with either loud traffic or human gawkers getting up close and personal.

It's rewarding to see decades of conservation efforts paying off — and to see proof that human and animal life can thrive side by side.

In a state wrongly dismissed by our fellow countrymen as an industrial hellscape, this is a result worth celebrating and enjoying.

IF YOU GO

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge
Address: 800 Great Creek Rd, Galloway, NJ 08205

Ocean City Rookery
At the Ocean City Welcome & Information Center
NOTE: Do NOT follow Google Map directions to 9th Street in Ocean City. This is on an island more than halfway across the Route 52 bridge before you reach Ocean City.

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