Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a part of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Cape May Court House, NJ.
Supawna Meadows NWR is located along the Delaware River estuary just north of the Salem River in Salem County, NJ.
The Delaware Bay and estuary is recognized as a wetlands of international importance and an international shorebird reserve.
The refuge currently owns approximately 3,000 acres within the 4,600 acre approved boundary. The brackish tidal marshes that make up nearly 80 percent of the refuge provide waterfowl with an important feeding and resting area, particularly during the fall and spring migrations.
Black ducks, mallards and northern pintails are common winter visitors. Sandpipers and other shorebirds use the refuge marshes as a feeding area during the summer as well as during the spring and fall migrations. Delaware's nearby Pea Patch Island Rookery hosts over 6,000 pairs of nine species, making it the largest rookery of colonial wading birds on the east coast north of Florida. The refuge marshes provide valuable foraging habitat for these colonial wading birds during the nesting season.
Warblers, sparrows and other migratory birds use the upland areas of the refuge as resting and feeding areas during migration and for nesting during the summer. Thousands of tree swallows forage on the refuge in the late summer. Ospreys, bald eagle, northern harrier, short-eared owl and barn owl nest on the refuge.
Approximately 80 percent of the refuge is brackish tidal marsh that provides wintering, feeding, and nesting habitat for a variety of migratory waterfowl. The refuge's tidal creeks and impoundments provide important feeding areas for the nine species of colonial wading birds nesting on Pea Patch Island, the largest wading bird rookery north of Florida.
The refuge's tidal mud flats and impoundments provide feeding and resting areas for shorebirds migrating along Delaware Bay. In the late summer, thousands of tree swallows forage on the northern bayberry shrubs that are abundant on the refuge. Warblers, sparrows, bobolinks and other migratory birds use the upland fields and woodlands as resting and feeding areas during migration and for breeding and nesting during the summer. American kestrels, Northern harriers, redtailed hawks, and barn owls are frequently seen hunting over the refuge grasslands.
During winter, the refuge grassland trail is a good place to view large groups of Eastern meadowlarks and savannah sparrows. Ospreys and a pair of bald eagles nest on the refuge.
According to their website, http://northeast.fws.gov/nj/spm.htm, the refuge headquarters office on Lighthouse Road is now closed to the public. If you need information about Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge please call Cape May National Wildlife Refuge at 609-463-0994.
