The great blue heron. She startled me the first time I saw her. The section of the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath just west of New Brunswick is not one of the more popular sections. This is partially because of the dearth of parking, and the fact that this section ends near the new Route 18 bridge.

I was walking back along the towpath to my car when I saw a very large bird flying toward me. There was not enough time to get out my camera. In a moment, she was gone. A large bird with grayish-blue feathers. She was a great blue.

Perhaps if I hiked more near Barnegat Bay I’d see more herons. They’re more common down the shore. I hike mostly in my part of the state, which is the northwest. I’ve seen three more great blue herons since then. Two were in the marshy part of Buckabear Pond, just north of the Clinton Reservoir. I did not get nearly as close a look at them. The fourth one I saw on one of my walks about town. Well, it wasn’t really in town. It was where the train and the river run by the bus station; just outside town.

The Rockaway River rises in the ‘Wildlife Management Area’ a few miles north of town. North of that are the mountains and the watersheds. As I saw the great blue flying north over the river, all I could think was “I hope you make it out of town safely.” A magnificent bird is the great blue heron.

~ Paul (AHikingDude@aol.com)~