ENTS,
On Sunday August 2, and again on Friday August 7, I visited a big vernal pond in Wharton State Forest in the NJ Pine Barrens. The pond runs parallel to the sand road on which I filmed a video on Saturday August 1 (which some of you watched).
In the first video I never got near the east end of the pond, which is filled with vegetation. Actually the entire south side is also filled with vegetation as well. In the second video I started down near the east end and headed back to the west end where I came in.
The west end of the pond has an outlet which seems to be man-made. But someone sandbagged it. But then sometime ago either the sandbags didn't hold, or someone drove a 4X4 in there and broke down the sandbags. I'm not sure which. But the pond again has an outlet. It flows into a small, apparently man-made channel, which goes north/northeast over to the river.
The pond has many interesting plants in it, as well as old blueberry bushes and other things. I absolutely love it up there. I need to go back again. According to the aerial photography, there are more vernal ponds and cedar swamps running parallel to that sand road.
Hope y'all enjoy the videos.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPZiGEFQh8
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj_uoAlsr6Q
 

It took me a while to get the openings right. At first my video openers were very clunky, and I would have to delete and start over. Once I got that down, the rest is just me acting natural, as if there were someone there that I was showing around. I also learned a little from the guy on Long Island (New York). He's PinePowerLI on Youtube.

Here's a bird's eye view of the pond in the two videos:
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qmbdg38sb8j8...
If you switch to aerial and see the whole thing, it appears that some of it is man-made, as if it were a former cranberry bog or something
 
Just around the corner from here, on the edge of South Egg Harbor, there are two vernal ponds called the Goose Ponds (Big Goose Pond and Little Goose Pond). The trail to Big Goose Pond grew in and I can no longer find it. Here are the Goose Ponds from the air:
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=39.524716~-7...
 
On my way to work every day I pass by a Nature Conservancy preserve that contains two vernal ponds. This preserve can't be visited without permission because of the rare plants there. Here's a bird's eye of one of the ponds there:
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=qkh3hz8shv04...
I have been there once.
 
Thanks,
Barry