Somers Point-Longport Boulevard, Somers Point, NJ
Phone: (609) 625-1897
www.aclink.org/PARKS/mainpages/parks.asp#klingener
Atlantic County Parks
From the parking area at Malibu Beach WMA, turn Right onto Ocean Drive. Keep Left and turn Left at the traffic light onto Route 152 back toward Somers Point. Just after crossing the bridge, turn Left into the parking area for Klingener Fishing Pier. DIRECTIONS FROM NEAREST HIGHWAY: From the intersection of Route 9 and Route 52 in Somers Point, continue East on Route 52/MacArthur Boulevard. At the traffic circle, take the 3rd exit for Shore Road. After 0.8 miles, turn Right onto Route 152/Somers Point-Longport Boulevard. After 1.4 miles, turn Right into the parking area for Klingener Fishing Pier. Map
Benches, a picnic table, and a pavilion make this site welcoming for children and the elderly or handicapped.
Don't miss the small scattered mud flats associated with the salt marsh behind the phragmites. Many shorebirds use these isolated spots for feeding and may not be seen if you don’t walk down one of the small paths onto the marsh edge. The mud flats are not easily seen at this site, but provide some excellent shorebird viewing and you may also see Fiddler crabs.
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| Brown Pelican with Gulls | Tony Geiger |
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 Klingener Fishing Pier offers a rare glimpse into the isolated salt marsh island habitat between mainland Somers Point and Longport. Easily accessible, the pier juts out alongside Dolores Cooper Bridge and over Broad Thoroughfare, an excellent location for fishing and crabbing. The panoramic views make this a great place to pack a lunch and scan for local and migratory birds while watching boats drift by.
Visit in late September or early October when tourist traffic has decreased, fishing is still good and summer breeding birds are still present while shorebirds are beginning their South-bound migration.
Winter is a great time to enjoy the quiet ambiance and great views. Great Blue Heron, Black Duck and Northern Harriers are conspicuous in the marsh. In the open water, one may find Brant, Red-breasted Merganser, Scaup, Scoters, Bufflehead, Double-crested and sometimes Great Cormorant.
Osprey arrive in March and put on a show around the nesting platform throughout the summer. Small shorebirds, including Semipalmated Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlin and Black-bellied Plover, utilize the mud flats. Tree Swallow, Yellow-Rumped Warbler and Marsh Wren are among migrant songbirds passing through and arriving to nest.
Osprey are busy feeding their young. Laughing Gull, Willet, Oystercatcher, Clapper Rail, Forster’s Tern, Common Tern and Red-winged Blackbird fill the air with chatter. Keep an eye out for Least Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Glossy Ibis and night herons. Fishing in the intercoastal waterway can yield summer flounder, bluefish, sea robin, tautog, black sea bass, American eel, weakfish, smooth dogfish and blue crab. Sea stars and urchins creep up the pilings on the pier. A walk through the marsh can turn up green, spider, fiddler and hermit crabs as well as other marine critters. Look for sea lavender and pickleweed among the Spartina grass.
Scan the bridge for Peregrine Falcon. Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin and Cooper’s Hawk are passing through as well. Shorebirds such as Short-billed Dowitcher, Whimbrel and Least Sandpiper stop in the marsh. Songbirds and monarch butterflies perch in the shrubs, while the salt marsh turns golden yellow.
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