Ted Stiles Preserve at Baldpate Mountain is located in Hopewell Township off of Fiddlers Creek.

NJ trail maps and description: http://njtrails.org/trail/ted-stiles-preserve-at-baldpate-mountain/

My assistant today… He was not overly enthusiastic about accompanying me on this brisk (34 deg F) morning hike, or with me stopping every few minutes to bend over to look at something on the ground.

A lovely log to sit and eat a picnic lunch on.  Lots and lots of shelled acorns and larger nuts, such as hickory nuts were laying on the ground all around this downed tree.  This is probably a spot where a squirrel sat to munch.

Spring beauties finally in bloom!  I did not see with their flowers fully open, but perhaps that had to do with the air temperature.  These are the first native flowers I have seen this season!

The forest is starting to green!  Unfortunately, the green haze seen here is almost entirely composed of the invasive plant species such as Japanese Barberry, Berberis thunbergii, Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, and Multiflora rose, Rosa multiflora.

…A little further down on rt. 29… a Committee of Turkey Vultures, Cathartes aura