The Birding Breakdown
It’s over three decades ago, though it seems like yesterday, that I first came to Cape May. Fresh from England, it was my first trip to America, and I was 21 years old. Of course, when you live anywhere else in the world and you want to see bird migration stateside, there is only one place to visit. Yes, you guessed it, Cape May. This is not a new thing. One of the first Christmas Bird Counts was conducted here in 1901, the first Cape May Warbler was found here, and old literature—such as Witmer Stone’s Bird Studies of Old Cape May—are famous.
But even with all this history and great reputation, it was so much more than I expected. In fact, it was enough for me to extend my one fall to several summers and falls. In January 1991, I had no choice but to come here for good with my new English bride, Deb. Our sacrifices were great, leaving family and all. However, there was nowhere else we could live. And just to be clear, we don’t live in America, or even New Jersey. We live in Cape May.
What makes Cape May so special for birds? In a nutshell, it has everything in a small area. It is one-stop shopping, such that you never have to go north of the canal. Heck, just use a bike, or even walk it. Add to that the beauty and charm of the town, its variety of beaches, rising and sinking suns, ever-changing everything and you can never get bored. Back in the day when we moved, only a couple of birders lived here; today, about 100 serious birders live in the area. Birding has an increasingly large impact on the local economy, being particularly important in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall when thousands visit Cape May.
Geographically, it is amazing. Most birds don’t like flying over the water. The Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean act as natural funnels, as everything filters back south from their breeding grounds. I would say call this fall migration, but it lasts from July 1 until Christmas—half the year.
In spring we are the first land you hit if you are a bird coming up the coast from the south. If you are bird caught offshore in bad weather, we are the closest land for protection, or food, for quite some distance. Once you get here, whatever it is you are looking for, we pretty much have it: salt and freshwater marshes, grassland, forest, scrub, and beaches. You name it, we have it.
The following are the best known and most visited local places by birders, but they are by no means the only places. There are birds everywhere, and you can see good things anywhere. Little pockets of food, birds, and good habitat are just about everywhere.
If you are staying in Cape May, a simple walk to the beach can be fun. In late fall, a large flock of Black Skimmers lives between Convention Hall and 2nd Avenue; with their funky bills, they fly around in synchronized flocks. Large numbers of terns and gulls are also usually here. Sometimes they are chased offshore by jaegers. Thousands of scoters, loons, gannets, and seabirds often pass by offshore in late fall and early spring, smaller numbers wintering. The numbers can be even more impressive at Cape May Point, but as always in nature, it depends where the food is. Birds on the beaches are often quite tame, but try not to flush them. Grab your camera (or phone). The iconic Cape May image is St. Mary’s and Cape May Point taken from 2nd Avenue. Just remember, it has got to have a flock of Skimmers or other birds in the foreground. Now there is a challenge for you!
If you head towards Cape May Point down Sunset Boulevard, there is a gravel parking lot on the left. The Nature Conservancy property South Cape May Meadows is an expansive wetland area bordering the beach. Known by the locals as “the meadows,” there are good paths leading from the parking lot in a couple of directions. They form a couple of loops around the wetlands and go to the beach, where the old town of South Cape May once was before it got washed away. Yes, things are always changing at the beach.
There is a mosaic of habitats here. When water levels are deep, particularly in winter, there can be boatloads of ducks and geese. If and when the water levels are shallower in summer and fall, it’s the place for good shorebirds and other wading water birds. While some would like me to name species, the reality is we get too many to name them. Think of it this way: at certain times of year thousands of birds are flying over, usually too high for us to see them. If the food is good, or the weather is bad, they are likely to drop down for a minute, a day, or longer. You never know what is going to show up, and that is the fun of it.
If the water birds aren’t happening, the reed beds and bushy areas have Virginia Rails, blackbirds, Marsh Wrens, and the occasional bittern. The beach is now mostly grown over, and beach nesting birds are not what they were a few years ago, but if that changes Least Terns, American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers will again make a fun summer’s day. The meadows is always a great place for a stroll, birds or not.
If you carry on down Sunset Boulevard, park at the end of the road and look out at the Concrete Ship. Cormorants, sandpipers, and other birds like to sit on it, while gulls and ducks often feed nearby. This is a convenient place to see water birds flying out of the Delaware Bay, particularly if you are getting old and soft like me and sit in your car to keep warm. After storms, the café is where we all shelter to watch for storm-driven birds (yes, even the young’ns are a little soft). This is the place I always drive to in winter just to get away from the computer for a minute. You can just sit in your car, look at the water, and everything seems a lot better. Oh, to be by the ocean!
If you drive back down the road a couple hundred yards, there is a parking lot on your left. Bordered by a tall chain-link fence, it looks like nothing. In the near future, the marvels behind the fence will be revealed. Pond Creek Marsh is not viewable from anywhere except a couple of strategically placed houses, including mine (and that is no accident). This massive freshwater marsh has been partly flooded with salt water to help keep mosquitoes down. Major plans are underway to open this area up to the public. A large walkable raised dike is being built, and the area within will be tidal. Nine blinds will be built on the dike. Blinds are superb for getting closer to wildlife while not disturbing it. They are also great places to shelter from the elements in comfort, hang out and meet other like-minded people. We are hopeful that this area might be incredible for wading birds, as well as all other kinds of water birds. The surrounding freshwater marsh should also be great for rails, bitterns, wrens, and other marsh-loving critters. A migration platform closer to the beach should be excellent for watching all of this—raptors, the “morning flight” phenomenon, and the Delaware Bay. Only a few places in the world, at best, will be comparable.
This magnificent state-owned property is a beautiful getaway and a lovely scenic walk to Davey’s Lake and Higbee. In the not-too-distant future, it may become the most-watched birding destination in the state. Hopefully it will become transformative in how we connect people with nature. Don’t be surprised if a state-of-the-art interpretive center is built here; it should be!
Heading into Cape May Point on Lighthouse Avenue, you will see Cape May Bird Observatory on the right off East Lake Drive. The gardens have bird feeders and a water feature, and inside is a good place to buy books and optics, and to get all the latest bird information. Located at the north end of Lake Lily, the south-facing East Lake Drive often gets insect hatches and can be the best place to see warblers and other migrants in the area; they are often low and close, so bring your camera. Of course, when there are lots of birds, there can be just as many birders. A walk anywhere around the Point can be good, and Lake Lily is often a good place to watch waterfowl in winter; it’s one of the last places to have open water in big freezes. Ducks and geese can be jammed into the last open spaces—a great spectacle in the snow.
Further down Lighthouse Avenue is the Cape May Point State Park, and, you guessed it, the lighthouse. The trail system around the park is excellent. An easy walk, the mosaic of woodland, ponds, marsh, and beach usually has a terrific variety of wildlife. I particularly like the ponds for photography when there are lots of ducks around. Eagles often flush everything; I like the mayhem of nature. There is a boardwalk for some of the path and there are benches to take a rest. Restrooms, as well as grills and benches, are in the parking lot.
The Hawkwatch is located at the east end of the parking lot. The large platform has counters and associate naturalists all day from September 1 to about December 10. It is an excellent vantage point and a great place to hang out and meet other birders. The peak time is from late September to November. Northwesterly winds after the passing of a cold front is typically the best weather for all big fall migrations, but really any day can be. Between 30,000–45,000 raptors pass over during fall. Late morning is usually the peak time, but you just never know. Wherever you are, keep your eyes sky bound. Bald Eagles pass through Cape May daily in decent numbers and are supplemented by local breeders. Only the adults have white heads and tails. If you see a big, all-dark raptor, with slow flaps, that glides on flat wings, it’s an immature Bald.
Just down the road, the platform at the end of Coral Avenue has been the en vogue watch spot spring and fall in the early mornings. This is a great vantage point to watch ducks, loons, and other seabirds pile past over the ocean. The “rips” is an offshore upwelling of food and water caused by the meeting of Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay currents. At certain times, the feeding frenzy of gulls and Gannets can be insane, the mayhem attracting rarer oceanic species. White-sided Dolphins are ever present in summer, and the odd Humpback Whale gets seen every now and then. The platform is also a great place to watch land birds pile south early in the morning. Here, concentrated at the southernmost point in New Jersey, the birds have to decide whether to jump off over the bay or head back north. Often flocks circle overhead before making the big decision. On a big flight, particularly in late fall, the action can be frenetic—this is what the obsessed—like me—love. Seeing thousands of birds in the first hour of light is not uncommon. One late October morning we had over a million birds, mostly American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds. This is what I live for—real “shock and awe” spectacles you never forget.
Leaving the Point, you can head over to Beach Plum Farm off Stevens Street in West Cape May. You can grab a breakfast sandwich and coffee before taking the track into the fields. Heck, you can even buy a Crossley ID Guide from the shop. Another pleasant walk, with a good variety of habitats and some farm animals to look at, it is also a nice vantage point to look over Pond Creek Marsh.
From here you can head to Rhea’s Farm on Bayshore Road (not far from 6th Avenue) in West Cape May—known by the locals as The Beanery because of the old machines remaining from the ’70s and ’80s when the fields were used for harvesting lima beans. From the parking area, you can walk the fields. The beanery is the warmest part of the island, so tends to have more food, and therefore birds, than other places at colder times of the year. It is a nice variety of farm fields, field edges and deeper woods. It also has a good reputation as a hawk watch, being quite open and in the middle of the island. A long list of rarities has shown up there. In summer, it’s a good place to find breeding Prothonotary Warblers in the swampy areas.
At the end of New England Road, abutting the Delaware Bay, is arguably Cape May’s best and best-known birding spot, Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area. Walking south out of the main parking lot is a series of five fields bordered by trees. The fields are managed for a wide variety of birds. Breeders include Yellow-breasted Chat, Blue Grosbeak, Field Sparrow, Barred Owl, and Indigo Bunting.
Higbee is the early-morning starting point for most birders in migration periods. Not long after first light we see a strong movement of birds northwards along the bay. This movement usually only goes on for an hour or two, so no sleeping in or leisurely breakfasts.
In fall, this reorientation of birds back towards the Appalachians is still a poorly understood phenomenon. Northerly and westerly winds, particularly after the passage of a cold front, are the most favorable conditions for a large flight. Warblers, tanagers, orioles and flycatchers predominate in May, August, and September. Diversity is lower in October and November, but the numbers are higher with flocks of sparrows, finches, blackbirds, and robins. The fields can be full of birds one day but empty the next. Some mornings thousands of birds fly over but keep on going and never put down in the fields. You just never know.
If you enjoy this spectacle of overhead migration, like I do, you can go to The Dike. Turn north out of the Higbee lot and head towards the canal parking lot. Just as you come out of the trees you will see a massive raised bank on your right and a platform on the left. Both are good, but you have to make the climb if you want the best views. An official “morning flight” count has been conducted here since 1987, so there are always people up there.
The Dike has a special place in my heart: in fact it is fair to say it changed my life. When Paul Holt and I found this place on September 20, 1985, we had only just arrived in the country that summer. The spectacle, allied to the challenge of identifying all these birds flying over, was exhilarating. This fall phenomenon of northbound migration or reorientation was not really known about back then. The place went viral, even without social media! It was a madhouse for a few years as people came to see what all the fuss was about. For us, we were like kids in a never-ending candy store. The birding was like space invaders on steroids; an addictive drug that became the focus of my life for several years. It had a large part in the decision to uproot from England and move my tush to Cape May. I still remember having problems sleeping when the winds looked good, cycling there in the dark, and barely being able to wait for sunrise so that the show could begin. If you haven’t seen the mayhem of thousands of warblers zipping past you, in my world, you have not lived. Damn, it was exciting!
The Dike is certainly at the extreme end of birding. A bit more leisurely paced is Hidden Valley. Drive back up New England Road, and on the right is a small parking lot. There are three large fields here managed by the state. Depending on what has been planted, they are usually good year round for sparrows, buntings, and the like. It can be beautiful in summer when all the flowers are in full bloom. Not many people go here, so if you fancy getting away from the crowds, it’s a good place for you.
One of my “backstreet” favorites is Shunpike Pond on, you guessed it, Shunpike Road. This little village pond always has ducks and geese on it. Close to the road, it is picturesque, and great for photography. On migration, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers are nearly always there.
Another great place for a long quiet walk is the Garret Family Preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy in West Cape May. Drive and park in the new parking lot at the end of Wilson Avenue. This newly established preserve has an extensive set of trails around the fields and butts up to Cape Island Creek. They have put lots of benches, picnic tables and a blind to enhance your experience. There are loads of fruiting bushes and other food at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if this place becomes a birding favorite. It is one of the places that is off the beaten track but will hopefully get the recognition it deserves—though I profess to like those places where you can just get away from it all.
In winter, the Cape May harbor can be excellent for ducks and flocks of Brant Geese. Back of the Lobster House or off Delaware Avenue near the excellent Nature Center of Cape May, are good places to look from. One of my favorites, Bufflehead, are always here bobbing up and down like small rubber ducks. They jump in the air, only to dive down, as though they have an inferiority complex.
If you look at a map, Cape Island does not look so big. But if you are going birding, there is a never-ending list of spots to go. Whatever the type of bird or habitat you are looking for, we pretty much have it—alone or with a crowd.
Simply put, there is nowhere like it in the whole world.
