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Trail Guides
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Bernadette Morales Nature Preserve
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4
 
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Capner Street, Raritan Township, NJ
Phone: (908) 806-6100
www.raritan-township.com
Township of Raritan
Travel back down Packers Island Lane and turn Right onto River Road to return to Old Clinton Road. Turn Left onto Old Clinton Road and after 1.2 miles turn Right at the T intersection onto CR 612/Sand Hill Road. Continue 1.4 miles (the road becomes CR 617/Klinesville Road) and turn Left onto Barton Hollow Road. After 2.0 miles turn Left at the stop sign onto Old Croton Road and proceed 0.5 miles turning Left onto Capner Street. Parking is on the Right in the parking area for Mine Brook Park. The Nature Preserve is across the street. Map
Open daily 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. Portable restroom facilities are available at Mine Brook Park. Take care while walking on the Eagle and Dogwood trails due to exposed roots. Make sure to stay on the main trail as well-worn deer paths may look like trails that branch off. All intersections are marked with wooden posts.
The Uplands Reserve sits adjacent to Bernadette Morales and can be accessed from a spur trail off of the “Meditation Trail”, which offers another 1.1 miles of hiking. A trail map can be obtained from www.co.hunterdon.nj.us/depts/parks/guides/Uplands.htm. Mine Brook Park, on the other side of Capner Street, offers a playground, athletic fields, pavilion and a fitness trail.
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| Veery | Mike Anderson |
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| | This park is part of an over 400-acre greenway in the Flemington area. Resident and migrating birds, other wildlife and humans find refuge here from the ever increasing pressures of urban sprawl. Mine Brook, which bisects the park, helps draw diversity to the property. Look carefully around the brook and also seek out gaps through the understory and shrubs for the best wildlife viewing opportunities.
Near the end of the Eagle Trail, enjoy the Mine Brook as it cascades over small stone ledges.
Search the dense clumps of vines, branches and brush along Mine Brook for Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow and other winter resident birds as they forage. Listen for their scratching and twittering call notes. Visit at night to listen for the Eastern Screech Owl’s whinnying song.
During late April and May, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and some of the woodland warblers such as Northern Parula, Black-and-White and Yellow Warblers are attracted to the many small insects associated with tree budding and flowering.
With leaves fully developed, open areas within the tree canopy offer the best opportunity for observing bird activity; Baltimore Oriole or Red-eyed Vireo may be visible. Try imitating birds’ fussing calls (a. k. a. “pishing”) within the shrub/scrub; Eastern Towhee, Gray Catbird, Wood Thrush, Common Yellowthroat or maybe even a curious Ovenbird may pop up for a closer look. Look closely at the milkweed for the yellow, black and white Monarch caterpillar. It eats milkweed exclusively and then pupates into a stunning green chrysalis from which a Monarch butterfly will emerge.
Once the leaves fall, it is easier to spot Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers hitching their way along tree trunks and branches. Listen for the nasally ‘yank, yank, yank’ call of White-breasted Nuthatch; unlike the woodpeckers, they are often seen upside down, poking their bills in crevices searching for tasty morsels such as hibernating insects and insect egg cases. American Robin, Song Sparrow and Carolina Wren may also be seen in brushy areas.
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