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Important Bird and Birding Areas
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Mad Horse Creek and Abbots Meadow Wildlife Management Areas/Stowe Creek
Salem CountyCoordinates: N 39.47748
W 75.46751
Site Map Piedmont Plains: New England / Mid-Atlantic CoastArea: 26,220 Acres Habitat: Primarily tidal saltmarsh wetlandSite Description: The far-reaching tidal salt marsh of this site extends from its northern border at Hancock’s Bridge-Fort E Road (Abbots Meadow Wildlife Management Area (WMA)), near Salem City, south to Stowe Creek (Mad Horse Creek WMA) and is bound by the Delaware River to the west. The adjacent uplands are heavily farmed. The wetlands within this site are part of the Delaware Bay Wetlands, an internationally recognized wetland of importance designated under the RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands, a treaty signed in 1971 for the purpose of wetlands conservation. These wetlands are also recognized as a Hemispheric Reserve as part of an intercontinental network of protected sites known formally as the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN).
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| Clapper Rail | David Lapuma |
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Birds: Several pairs of state-endangered Bald Eagles breed along Alloway and Stowe Creeks. The extensive tidal wetlands support significant numbers of state-endangered Northern Harriers as well as salt marsh/wetland dependant birds including Seaside Sparrows, Willets, Ospreys, Virginia Rails, over 3000 Marsh Wrens and over 1000 Clapper Rails. Wintering waterfowl include Brant, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovelers, and Ring-necked Ducks. Wintering raptors, including Rough-legged Hawks and Northern Harriers, are also common.Conservation: Monocultures of the common reed (Phragmites australis) are common in portions of the Mad Horse Creek and Abbots Meadow WMAs/Stowe Creek IBA. Restoration of native species of vegetation is recommended to increase habitat diversity. Portions of this wetland complex have also been altered by ditching for mosquito control and have been drained for farming. Additionally, agricultural runoff from surrounding farms likely degrades the water quality of this site. Funding is available from federal and state incentive programs to compensate landowners for wetland and/or grassland restoration. Effective management of farmland habitat benefits grassland-dependent wildlife and improves water quality and the quality of the adjacent wetlands. Although the area is primarily rural, development pressure is increasing at an alarming rate. Efforts to connect disjunctive parcels of the WMAs should include acquisition and conservation easements.Additional Information: Site Report
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| Mad Horse Creek in the fall | Michael Hogan |
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