Bugs

Greenhead Fly

This is a listing of some of the tiny critters that you might find. I'm not including all the invisible biting nasties that you find around the water. That's what bug spray is for. Above is the horrible Greenhead fly - the bane of New Jersey summers. When one of these bites you, you know it.


Dragonflies

Eastern Pondhawk - female ( males are blue )

Dragonflies are aerial predators with a strong liking for water, so you are very likely to get 'buzzed' while out kayaking. They are harmless to humans. Dragonfly larvae are fully aquatic little nightmares. There are many kinds of dragonflies in the region, too many to list.


Orbweavers

Orchard Orbweaver

If you are trying to escape the sun in the shade of overhanging tree branches, you are inevitably going to get spiders in the boat. These are almost entirely harmless orbweavers - they are not aggressive and don't bite, and are not poisonous to humans, at least no more poisonous than a honey bee. That said, our brains are programmed at the most basic level to fear spiders, and I don't like them any more than anyone else. Just calmly knock it out of the boat.


Whirligig Beetle

Whirligig Beetles are typically found in groups making crazy circles at the surface, although they are also capable of diving and flying. These are 'true beetles', not bugs. They are harmless scavengers.


Rahway River
( 40.68294, -74.33542 )

  1. Orange Reservoir - Rahway River ( 40.75964, -74.28903 )
  2. Rahway River - Clark ( 40.62884, -74.29746 )
  3. Rahway River - Cranford (N) ( 40.66036, -74.30627 )
  4. Rahway River - Cranford (S) ( 40.65097, -74.30133 )
  5. Rahway River - Cranford (W) ( 40.65900, -74.30997 )
  6. Rahway River - Jackson's Pond ( 40.62805, -74.28492 )
  7. Rahway River - Lenape Park ( 40.67407, -74.31426 )
  8. Rahway River - Mohawk Park ( 40.64041, -74.29408 )
  9. Rahway River - Nomahegan Lake ( 40.66832, -74.31741 )
  10. Rahway River - Park ( 40.62040, -74.28944 )
  11. Rahway River - Rahway ( 40.59952, -74.26856 )
  12. Rahway River - South Branch (E) ( 40.60010, -74.27397 )
  13. Rahway River - South Branch (W) ( 40.57998, -74.30463 )
  14. Rahway River - South Mountain ( 40.73112, -74.30704 )
  15. Rahway River - Springfield ( 40.70824, -74.30186 )
  16. Robinson's Branch - Rahway River ( 40.61839, -74.30495 )

The Rahway River rises in Essex County as two separate branches. The West Branch begins at spring-fed Crystal Lake in West Orange and flows south through the South Mountain Reservation in the valley between first and second ridges of the Watchung Mountains. It runs directly through downtown Millburn. The East Branch rises as a surface stream in West Orange and forms part of the boundary between West Orange and Orange, then travels through the towns of South Orange and Maplewood.

The two branches meet at Hobart Gap near Interstate 78, continuing south through the Union County communities of Springfield, Union, Cranford and Clark. In Rahway the river receives the Robinson's Branch and South Branch, which are approximately 10 miles long. The South Branch starts in Roosevelt Park in Edison behind the Menlo Park Mall, and flows through Edison, Iselin, and Rahway. The river's mouth is at the Arthur Kill between Carteret (on the south) and Linden (on the north), opposite Port Mobil on Staten Island.