U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Bombay Hook

National 

Wildlife Refuge

Bear Swamp Trail 

Bombay Hook

National Wildlife Refuge

2591 Whitehall Neck Road

Smyrna, DE 19977

302/653 9345 Office

302/653 6872 Visitor Center

302/653 0684 Fax

Email R5RW_BHNWR@mail.fws.gov

www.fws.gov/northeast/bombayhook

Federal Relay Service

for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

1 800/877 8339 

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

1 800/344 WILD

April 2007

American woodcock

USFWS
Welcome to Bombay Hook National 

Wildlife Refuge and the Bear Swamp 

Trail.

Bear Swamp Trail is accessible to 

the physically challenged. The trail 

leads from the parking lot through a 

wooded area bordering Bear Swamp 

Pool to a thirty-foot observation tower 

and a floating observation platform 

that accommodates wheelchairs. It 

then returns through a forest setting 

to the parking area. The trail has a 

wide, hard surface and boardwalk 

section. 

Total distance of Bear Swamp Trail 

is approximately one quarter of a 

mile. Eight numbered guideposts are 

located along the trail corresponding 

to descriptions in this brochure.

Bear Swamp Pool and Bear Swamp 

Trail were built in 1961. The area was 

known historically as Bear Swamp, 

although bears no longer inhabit 

Delaware – the last recorded sighting 

was in 1905.

Some portions of the trail are 

bordered with poison ivy, so it is 

best to avoid brushing against the 

vegetation. During warm months it is 

advisable to use insect repellent and 

wear protective clothing to help deter 

ticks.

Binoculars and birding field guides 

are handy tools to view wildlife. 

Binoculars are available on loan at 

the visitor center and the refuge 

store carries a full line of field guides. 

The visitor center also has lists of 

amphibians and reptiles, birds, and 

mammals at Bombay Hook NWR. 

Further information about birds, 

other animals, and plants that inhabit 

the refuge is available in the visitor 

center.

Welcome

This goose, designed by 

J.N. “Ding” Darling, has 

become the symbol of the 

National Wildlife Refuge 

System.

Bear Swamp

Pool

Vernal

Pond

Bear Swamp

Gut

North

Bear Swamp Road

Bear

Swamp

Trail

Trail

Observation Tower

Parking

Bench

Wooded Area

Marsh

Floating Observation

Deck

Boardwalk

Legend

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Forest succession is the gradual 

change in vegetation that occurs 

when cleared fields are abandoned. 

Grasses and herbaceous plants are 

first replaced by woody plants, then 

by shrubs and trees such as winged 

sumac and sweet gums. Following this 

first stage, maples and beech trees 

gradually replace this initial growth. 

This is known as the second stage 

of succession. Over time, oaks and 

hickorys predominate as the third 

stage or mature forest is achieved. 

All three of these stages can be 

observed on Bear Swamp Trail.

These woods along the parking area 

and at the beginning of the trail 

are in the first stage of succession. 

Clusters of red fruit identify the 

winged sumac, a shrub that attains 

a tree form. The predominate sweet 

gum trees have five-pointed leaves 

that turn red, yellow, and orange in 

the fall; rough, gray bark with deep 

fissures; and a brown seed pod in 

the shape of a prickly golf ball that 

provides food for small seed-eating 

birds.

In the spring and fall this is a good 

place to look for wood warblers high 

up in the treetops.

A careful look here reveals that 

there is a change in the forest. Red 

maples indicate that this area is in 

the second stage of forest succession. 

The red maple, also known as the 

swamp maple, grows in moist soils 

and is identified by circular shaped 

leaves with clefts forming three and 

sometimes five lobes.

On the right side of the trail along 

the water’s edge evidence of beaver 

activity has been observed from time 

to time, indicated by the stumps of 

small trees that have been chewed 

off in a conical shape. Beavers use 

the trees they cut down for food 

(they eat tree bark and small twigs) 

and for construction material to 

build their homes, called lodges. The 

lodges, built in the water, are large, 

cone-shaped structures with only the 

top showing above the water. The 

entrance is under water. Beavers 

are nocturnal animals, so they are 

seldom seen in the daytime. They 

also are freshwater animals, living in 

the large impoundments at Bombay 

Hook. Sometimes beavers are 

confused with another rodent, the 

smaller muskrats that live in tidal 

salt marshes as well as in freshwater 

impoundments. Muskrat houses are 

made of mud and marsh grasses and 

can be seen in the nearby salt marsh 

where they appear as brown-colored 

mounds.

Also on the right side between 

the trail and the water are large 

growths of phragmites. This 

plant, which reaches thirteen feet 

in height, has stiff wide leaves, a 

hollow stem, and a feathery plume 

like top. It grows where dredging, 

ditching, or some similar activity 

has disturbed the soil. Phragmites 

has little value for wildlife and 

crowds out more desirable wetland 

vegetation. Therefore, in freshwater 

environments, efforts are made to 

control it by manipulating water 

levels, chemical treatment, and 

burning.

Sweet gum

Beaver

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Robert Savannah
At this point of the trail there are ideal 

growing conditions for many species 

of ferns. Fourteen species of ferns are 

found growing at Bombay Hook, and 

seven of those can be seen here.

Ferns are delicate, flowerless plants 

usually found in moist, shady areas. 

They reproduce by spores that are 

enclosed in small, brown cases found 

on the backs of leaves or on separate 

stalks. When the spores ripen, the 

cases burst open, and the spores fall 

to the ground where they develop 

into tiny green heart-shaped plants. 

These plants then develop a female 

sex cell, an egg, and a male sex cell 

that fertilizes the egg. This fertilized 

egg than grows into a mature fern.

The leafy branch of a fern is called a 

frond; the small leaflets that make up 

the frond are called pinnae.

The seven ferns found here are:

■ Bracken – large, triangular 

fronds, grows 3-5 feet in height

■ Cinnamon Fern – spores are 

on separate fertile cinnamon-colored 

fronds, grows 2-5 feet in height

■ Lady Fern – spores on the 

underside of frond, grows 2-3 feet 

in height

■ Marsh Fern – leaf edges 

slightly rolled, grows 18 to 24 

inches in height

■ New York Fern - frond tapers toward 

the base, grows 1-2 feet in height

■ Royal Fern – spores on fertile 

pinnae at ends of fronds, grows 

2-5 feet in height

■ Sensitive Fern – coarsely divided 

fronds, spores on bead-like 

structures, grows 18-24 inches in 

height

In summer this is a good place to 

stop and listen for the beautiful, 

clear, flute-like song of the wood 

thrush. The wood thrush and its 

cousin, the veery, often are found 

here in the understory. 

Bear Swamp Pool was constructed 

in 1961 and is the last of the four 

freshwater impoundments at Bombay 

Hook. It covers 240 acres. Water 

levels in the pool are controlled 

and are lowered in the summer to 

promote growth of aquatic vegetation, 

while still maintaining deeper pools to 

serve as nesting sites for waterfowl. 

The water levels are raised again in 

the fall and winter. 

Pied-billed grebes build floating nests 

in the open water of Bear Swamp 

Pool, around stands of reeds. Common 

moorhens may build their nests over 

the water in heavy growths of reeds, 

often with ramps down to the water. 

Least bittern, blue-winged teal, and 

northern shovelers nest in the grasses 

and other vegetation along the banks 

of the impoundment. Non-migratory 

Canada geese favor the grassy 

islands, and black-necked stilts build 

mud nests on the exposed islets at the 

north end of Bear Swamp Pool.

Wood Ducks nest in nest boxes 

located along the wooded edges of 

Bear Swamp Pool. Two hundred 

sixteen wood duck boxes are located 

on the refuge, and in a typical year 

about half are used by the ducks. 

Nest boxes also are provided for 

other birds that nest in cavities, 

namely bluebirds, and owls. 

Ferns

Canada Geese and Brood

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The thirty-foot observation tower 

offers an excellent view of Bear 

Swamp Pool. The mix of habitats 

becomes apparent from this 

perspective: some mud flats and 

muddy islets, small grassy islands, 

areas of deeper water, and shorelines 

that vary from marshy grasses to 

woods. It’s little wonder that Bear 

Swamp is so attractive to wildlife.

The floating observation deck 

with a mounted binocular scope at 

wheelchair height affords a somewhat 

similar view, but also provides an 

opportunity to get close up to nature. 

Particularly in the fall when Bear 

Swamp is teaming with waterfowl, the 

ducks sometimes are almost within 

arms reach.

In the summer Bear Swamp Pool is a 

magnet for the larger wading birds. 

Great blue, little blue, and tricolor 

heron, great and snowy egrets, blackcrowned night heron, and glossy ibis 

flock here, many from their heronry 

on Pea Patch Island, about thirty 

miles north on the Delaware River. 

These birds all nest in colonies. 

Frequently they are joined by blacknecked stilts, American avocets, 

and greater yellowlegs. Some 

shorebird species such as dunlin and 

short-billed dowitchers also use the 

shallows. 

In the fall and winter Bear Swamp 

Pool attracts many waterfowl. 

Migratory and non-migratory Canada 

geese, greater snow geese, and 

tundra swans can at times nearly 

fill the pool. Ducks more than fill 

in what’s left. Northern pintails, 

black ducks, mallards, northern 

shovelers, green-winged teal, widgeon 

and gadwalls are the common 

dabbling ducks, while ruddy ducks, 

buffleheads, and ringed- neck ducks 

are the divers. Added to this mix in 

the fall are common moorhens, coots, 

pied-billed grebes, and cormorants.

Bear Swamp has other animals as 

well. For example, turtles can be seen 

basking on logs or mud banks. The 

most common are eastern painted 

turtles, but others might include 

the eastern mud turtle, redbelly 

turtle, and the common musk turtle. 

Common snapping turtles inhabit 

Bear Swamp Gut, the stream that 

runs along Bear Swamp Road.

On a hot late summer day look for 

dragonflies and damsel flies as they 

skim over the water in search of 

mosquitoes, the mainstay of their 

diet. With its three-inch wingspan and 

broad white tail, the white tail dragon 

fly is hard to miss, but look also for 

slim, bright-colored damsel flies as 

well. 

Bear Swamp Trail has now entered 

an area in the third stage of forest 

succession, the mature forest of oaks 

and hickories. Look here to find 

acorns from the oak trees. Look also 

for eastern gray squirrels whose 

major food source is these acorns. 

Ten species of oak are found on the 

refuge.

Sometimes in this area the forest 

floor is covered with mushrooms and 

fungi. They have been called Mother 

Nature’s House Cleaners because 

these non-flowering plants break 

down dead vegetation and animal 

products, supplying minerals to other 

plants.

The understory here has many plants 

beneficial to wildlife. In late summer 

blackberry, wild raspberry, and wild 

strawberry plants provide food for 

many songbirds. Jack-in-the pulpits, 

which bloom in the spring, later 

develop clusters of berries that also 

provide food for wood thrushes and 

others. 

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Egret

Dragonfly

Jack-in-the-pulpit
This small vernal pool is flooded in 

some seasons and is simply a wet spot 

in others. Similar areas are found 

in many of the woodlots in Bombay 

Hook. These areas are important 

because they support a large and 

varied amphibian community.

There are two common salamanders 

on the refuge. The redback 

salamander is a member of the 

lungless salamander family, meaning 

that lungs are absent and respiration 

is through the skin and lining of 

the mouth. It has two color forms, 

one with a red stripe down the back 

and the other (called lead backed) 

that is overall dark. The latter is 

usually found at Bombay Hook. This 

salamander lays eggs in damp logs 

or moss, but they do not have an 

aquatic larval stage as do most other 

salamanders.

The other common salamander is 

the marbled salamander. This is a 

member of the mole salamander 

family. Marbled salamanders have 

lungs. Eggs are laid in depressions 

in the forest floor and hatch with the 

next rain.

Northern spring peepers, New 

Jersey chorus frogs, southern leopard 

frogs, pickerel frogs, and wood frogs 

also are likely inhabitants of this pond 

when it is flooded.

In summer look for Fowler’s toads. 

They often sit on the pathway until 

they are approached, and then hop 

into the greenery.

The woods in this area attract a 

number of woodland birds. Listen to 

hear the drumming of woodpeckers. 

Downy and red-bellied are common, 

as are northern flickers.

Owls also are common in the area, 

although because they are nocturnal 

they are rarely seen. Of the seven 

owls found on the refuge, the most 

common are eastern screech-owl, 

great horned owl, and barred owl. 

We hope you have enjoyed your visit 

to Bear Swamp Trail. There are four 

other walking trails on the refuge. 

Parson Point Trail is one mile round 

trip in length and goes through 

mixed habitats from freshwater 

marsh bordering Shearness Pool to 

mature forest. It is the most isolated 

of the three trails. The Saltmarsh 

Boardwalk Trail is a half mile in 

length and gives the visitor a close 

up look at the tidal salt marsh that 

makes up more than eighty percent 

of the refuge. Walking trails to the 

observation towers at Raymond and 

Shearness Pools go through edge 

habitats that often have interesting 

bird life.

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Spring Peeper

Marbled Salamander

Flicker