Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 197 Lighthouse Road Pennsville, NJ 08070 Supawna Mailing Address: c/o Cape May National Wildlife Refuge 24 Kimbles Beach Road Cape May Court House, NJ 08210 Meadows 609/463 0994 609/463 1667 Fax National Wildlife Federal Relay Service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Refuge 1 800/877 8339

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1 800/344 WILD http://www.fws.gov

January 2008

Northern harrier ©Mike Danzenbaker Supawna Meadows National Wildlife important habitat for wintering Refuge was established in 1974. The American black ducks. Pea Patch refuge is located in Pennsville, Salem Island and the surrounding area, County, New Jersey along the including the refuge, have been Delaware River estuary just north of designated a Special Management This goose, the Salem River. Currently, the refuge Area by the States of New Jersey and designed by J.N. Delaware in accordance with the “Ding” Darling, has contains 3,020 acres of important become the symbol wildlife habitat, and the acquisition Coastal Zone Management Act. of the National boundary encompasses approximately Wildlife Refuge 4,500 acres. System. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Killcohook Migratory Bird Refuge along the Overview Delaware River. For many years, the site was used by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to deposit dredge spoil. The dredge spoil built up on the site, which decreased Killcohook's value for wildlife, and spurned local conservationists to pursue purchase of adjacent lands to create a wildlife refuge with habitat value.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the first 653 acres of refuge land from the Philadelphia Conservationists (now known as Natural Lands Trust) in 1971. In 1974, the Service named the site Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge to make it distinct and separate from Killcohook. The Service exercised its secondary jurisdiction over the Killcohook Migratory Bird Refuge until it was revoked by Congress in October 1998. Killcohook is still used as a confined disposal facility by the Corps of Engineers.

The Delaware Bay and estuary is designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention. Coastal salt marsh habitats of the mid-upper Atlantic p p coast, including the Delaware Bay i h s O

marshes and Supawna Meadows y d

Refuge, have been identified by the u J

Black Duck Joint Venture as the most © Refuge Wildlife More than seventy percent of Forest Almost 390 acres of upland forest and and Habitat Supawna Meadows National Wildlife forested wetlands provide habitat for Marsh Refuge (2,200 acres) is slightly a diversity of wildlife on the refuge. brackish tidal marsh occurring along Amphibians such as Southern leopard the upper Delaware Bay and the frogs, New Jersey chorus frogs, and southern edge of Mannington spring peepers rely on ephemeral Meadow. This unique habitat includes vernal pools for breeding habitat. The a mixture of fresh and saltwater plants forest along the Forest Habitat Trail

and wildlife and is an important ©

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resting and feeding area for d of a high quality, healthy forest in y

waterfowl, shorebirds, and other O

s southern New Jersey. Songbirds such h i wildlife. The extensive marshlands on p as wood thrush, Baltimore oriole, and the site are critical to the thousands of p Eastern wood-pewee breed in this waterfowl and shorebirds that use the area. White-tailed deer are often seen Atlantic Flyway. as well.

Large numbers of waterfowl, particularly American black ducks, D

a Northern pintail, and mallards use the v e

M marsh in winter. During the breeding e n season, the tidal marsh provides k e

/ important foraging habitat for the U S

F more than 6,000 pairs of wading birds W

S that nest on nearby Pea Patch Island (the largest wading bird rookery north Indigo bunting of Florida). The marsh is also home to the bald eagle, which nests on the refuge. The quiet tidal waters serve as nurseries and spawning and feeding grounds for fish and shellfish, which K

are important in the diets of many e n

wildlife species. Northern C a s

diamondback terrapins, snapping e turtles, muskrats, and river otters y rely on the refuge’s habitat and food resources. Grassland The 80-acre grassland area is used by Northern harriers and American kestrels as they fly over the fields looking for small rodents to eat. Mammals, reptiles, and amphibians use the site throughout the year. The grassland provides important nesting habitat for the Northern diamondback terrapin, a species of special concern in New Jersey. S

W Remaining refuge habitat consists of F

S approximately 240 acres of wetland and U /

n upland shrub habitat and 110 acres of e n i open water. The shrub habitat supports m e i a variety of birds including American N

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n woodcock, indigo bunting, and field e

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S a le ook Road m H PENNSY R 15 iv Wilmington 1 e 7 1 r 6 3 Dover 1 422 LVANIA ELAWARE D 29 5 Supawn Meadows P hiladelphia 4 NW 9 R a 4 2 55 Vi Camden neland 4 7 7 NE Cape May 00 W JERSEY W 83 4 Salem 44 446 Enjoying the Two hiking trails are available for Refuge wildlife observation on the refuge. The Forest Habitat Trail winds through a hardwood forest and scrub/shrub habitat and around a

© pond. The best time to walk this trail D o

u is in spring when you are likely to g

W hear choruses of spring peepers and e c

h Southern leopard frogs and the s l e beautiful flute-like song of the wood r thrush. Wood duck and great blue Northern spring heron are often seen in wet areas peeper along the trail. S

W The Grassland Trail traverses a small F S patch of upland forest and extends U / n

o through the grassland area. In l n

a winter you are likely to see a number H

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d of Northern harriers and American i e

H kestrels foraging over the field. Yellow-crowned Night-heron amid phragmites and Songbirds are present throughout pickerelweed summer. An observation platform constructed by refuge volunteers and the Friends of Supawna Meadows Invasive species While a variety of habitats are National Wildlife Refuge overlooks a available to wildlife on Supawna finger of tidal marsh. Meadows Refuge, much of the site is threatened by myriad non-native, A two-mile boat trail winds through invasive species. Generally, the refuge tidal marsh habitat. In spring unwanted invasive plants form a and summer you are likely to see monoculture and crowd out the osprey carrying fish and working on desirable native plants, which their nests. Glossy ibis and muskrat reduces ecological diversity. Known are present and the bubbly gurgling invaders include mile-a-minute, call of the marsh wren and the harsh phragmites, Japanese honeysuckle, clacking of the clapper rail can be multiflora rose, autumn olive, heard. Japanese stiltgrass, and Canada thistle. View of the marsh from the observation platform Refuge management targets the D a v most serious threats to protect native e

M habitat. However, the aggressive e n

k nature of invasive plants makes it e / U difficult to stay ahead of this S

F troubling situation. Phragmites is W

S causing the most concern on the Common refuge. Management includes muskrat spraying the plant with herbicide and mowing or burning the dead stalks. © J u

The process continues over several d y

years until native plants dominate O s h i

the habitat. p p Seasonal deer hunting and waterfowl hunting are allowed in designated areas of the refuge. Please contact refuge headquarters or go to the refuge website (http://www.fws.gov/ northeast/nj/spm.htm) for additional information, regulations and maps.

Important I The refuge is open daily from Information for dawn to dusk. Visitors I Pets must be on a short, hand-held leash.

The following are prohibited on the refuge: I Use of motorized and nonmotorized vehicles I Use of pack horses or horseback riding. I Disturbing, injuring, destroying, or collecting plants, wildlife, or other natural objects I Picking fruits or flowers I Feeding wildlife I Entering closed areas I Camping or fires © K e n

C a s e y Pearl crescent

Our Friends The refuge is supported by the Friends of Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and an active group of volunteers. Individuals interested in finding out more should contact refuge headquarters. S W

F This brochure was created with help S U

/ from the Friends of Supawna g i t

t Meadows National Wildlife Refuge e R

and funding from the National Fish a i n

i and Wildlife Foundation. g r i V