Not surprisingly, since the bird life is similar to the Dot and Brooks Evert tract, Bear Swamp on Hawkins Road possesses the same habitat types although the upland pine areas are far more extensive.

Visitors who have birded both the Hawkins Road and Dot and Brooks Evert sites usually report that the birds are easier to see at Hawkins Road since the understory in most places is less dense and the trails wider. A total of 840 acres of habitat in this area has been protected: 500 acres in a Natural Lands Trust tract which is accessible from the high tension power line cut along Hawkins Road and 380 acres in two tracts purchased by the Audubon Wildlife Society, Inc. of Audubon, New Jersey further west along Hawkins Road accessible from the bridge over Little Creek where the road surface changes from macadam to dirt.

The same warblers that nest at Dot and Brooks Evert nest at the Hawkins Road Tracts. However Prothonotary Warbler and especially Louisiana Waterthrush are much more prolific at this site. Use the trails near the bridge over Little Creek to find them, although often both are heard and seen from Hawkins Road itself right at the bridge. At least four,possibly 5-6, pairs of Louisiana Waterthrush breed along the Little Creek and its tributary Miry Run. Their loud song rings through the woods from mid-April on. In 1996 DVOC club member Augie Sexauer placed four Prothonotary Warbler nest boxes at the Hawkins Road site; that year nine young were fledged. By 1998 fifteen boxes were available: 57 eggs were laid and 33 young were fledged.

This same area is good for nesting Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Blue-wing Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Ovenbird and, at the hardwood-pine boundaries, Worm-eating Warbler. It is also excellent for spring migrant warblers, including Northern Parula in 1999. Numerous Pine Warblers breed in the pine uplands along the trail as it enters the woods near the bridge from the north side of Hawkins Road. Red-eyed Vireo regularly nests near the footbridge over Miry Run. Other breeders here include Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Towhee, and Scarlet Tanager. Nearly 75 species breed in the Hawkins Road areas. If you are very lucky you may see or hear a Barred Owl.

Another easily accessible area worth exploring along Hawkins Road is the Natural Lands Trust property. Enter at the signed trailhead (actually a service road for the power lines) where the high voltage transmission lines cross Hawkins Road east of the area described above.

Walk north on the road (boots will be necessary for several low spots where Miry Run crosses the trail). Nesting White-eyed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Prairie Warbler are easier to find here along the overgrown power line cut with its scrubs and red cedar, than at the Little Creek site. Their loud "chick, per-wee-oo, chick" songs will give away the skulking vireos and the buzzy "bee-bzzzz" the Blue-wings.

Don't forget to look up periodically. This is a good area to observe hawks since the cut provides visibility over the woods. Broad-winged Hawks can usually be seen during their spring migration and perhaps a pair nests in this vicinity most years. In 1999 a pair of Cooper's Hawks, the female much larger than the male, were seen performing their courtship aerodynamics. Male Woodcock have used the road advertising for females. Whip-poor-will are common in the upland pine areas. Nesting Prairie Warblers can always be found near the third power line tower from the road where trails branch off in several directions if you haven't seen them long before arriving here. The northerly trail from the third tower continues along the power line right-of-way, the westerly one into upland pine-oak habitat, and the easterly one into a boggy cedar area (the source of Miry Run) where a concentration of Prothonotary warblers and a few Hooded warblers nest. Much of this Natural Lands Trust tract has not been fully explored by birders. Perhaps you can add a new nester or migrant to the list.

Directions:
From the east by proceeding south on Rte 206 from the Red Lion Circle (Intersection of Rte 206 & 70) to the first traffic light and turning right onto Hawkins Road (there is a green sign over the highway saying Hawkins Road). Continue on Hawkins Road; it starts as macadam but soon changes to sand and gravel, then changes back to macadam again, by a bridge over the Little Creek. Park here and head northeast into Bear Swamp trails.

From the west/Rte 70, turn south onto Skeet Road (there is a traffic light here as well) from Rte 70, proceed to the first intersection and turn left (east) onto Hawkins Road. Approx. 1-¾ miles east of the Little Creek Bridge is the power line cut (on the northeast side). Enter at the signed trailhead (actually a service road for the power lines) where the high voltage transmission lines cross Hawkins Road.

Delorme New Jersey Atlas & Gazetteer: P.55 D27

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~ Thanks to Don Jones