We
currently offer this tour as a custom trip only. Booking at least six
months in advance is recommended to sneure that a guide is available
during the busy fall season.
Cape
May is the stuff of legends. This peninsula has a place on almost
everyone’s list of top North American hotspots. The sheer numbers of
birds that pass the point, moving south along the coast, must be seen
to be believed. From the tiniest kinglets to the biggest raptors, we
hope to take in an astonishing array of species, all of which have
gathered within a relatively small patch of land. This trip is timed to
catch the tail end of the neotropical songbird passage and the
projected peak of raptor movement. Keep your fingers crossed; the right
conditions could bring a massive fallout of songbirds or a tremendous
raptor turn-out. Migration is powerfully affected by weather systems,
and part of the fun is never knowing what to expect.
Day 1:
Afternoon arrival in Philadelphia. After collecting participants at the
Philadelphia airport, we’ll make the two-hour drive to Cape May. Once
there, we’ll hit the beaches to scan for hunting troops of Black
Skimmers and Forster’s Terns, while Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and
Great Black-backed Gulls patrol the sands in the fading light.
Day 2:
Higbee. We’ll wake early to hit Higbee’s broadleaf forests for
migrants. Massive flights of Yellow-rumped Warblers provide an
opportunity to sift for the less numerous 
Palm, Chestnut-sided,
Nashville, and Blackpoll Warblers. Ruby-crowned Kinglet and
White-throated Sparrow numbers can be overwhelming. Cold fronts can
catalyze a massive arrival
of songbirds, among them Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, and Hermit
Thrush. Next, we’ll climb the stairs of the Hawk Watch at Cape
May Point State Park to get our first open-air views of Osprey,
Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, and Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks.
Walks around the grounds could turn up an assortment of warblers,
kinglets, and vireos. Surveying the beachfront may turn up a Parasitic
Jaeger harassing hordes of terns over the ‘rips’, and
perhaps a flyby of Brown Pelicans.
Day 3: Stone Harbor and Nummy Island.
Seeking concentrations of herons, egrets, and shorebirds is a priority
on this day. Stone Harbor Point and Nummy Island may yield a
respectable collection of the latter, including Willets, yellowlegs,
dowitchers, and perhaps Marbled Godwit, as well as the strongly marked
American Oystercatcher. The surrounding marshes should produce a few
Tricolored and Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, and we should be
able to sneak up on a few Clapper Rails. Towards evening, we’ll
visit 2nd Avenue Jetty, where we can view the gatherings of
mismatched-mandibled Black Skimmers. Offshore, we’ll be on the
lookout for potential seabirding opportunities, perhaps catching sight
of Northern Gannet, Surf and Black Scoters, or a cruising Parasitic Jaeger or two.
Day 4: Higbee and Hidden Valley. We’ll wake early to
witness the dawn flight at the Higbee Beach dike. Weather permitting,
the sight and peaceful sound of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of birds
pushing over, can be quite mesmerizing. We’ll pore over Higbee’s
broadleaf woodlands and then head out to Hidden Valley for another shot
at passerines. We plan on traversing through the Two Mile Beach Unit of
Cape May NWR and its maritime forest habitat and beach dunes, a
reliable location for “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow. In the evening, we’ll
stop by the 2nd Avenue Jetty for another glimpse at passing strings of
scoters and other seabirds. Tonight offers an optional owling jaunt for Great Horned, Eastern Screech, and Barred Owls.
Day 5: Brigantine. Shorebirds, waterfowl, and sparrows
will be the entertainment at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife
Refuge, also known as Brigantine. Over 80 percent of the 44,000-acre
refuge is tidal saltmarsh and meadow, sprinkled with bays and shallow
coves. Here we should turn up quite an assortment of shorebirds, with
yellowlegs, Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover,
Willet, and Short-billed Dowitcher leading the packs. Waterfowl should
be equally diverse, and we should easily bag Green-winged Teal,
American Wigeon, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, Snow Goose, and Northern
Pintail. Wading birds are well represented too, with Snowy Egret,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, and American Bittern adding to the mix.
Peregrine Falcons and Northern Harriers regularly instigate fantastic
disruptions of churning shorebird flocks, and perhaps we’ll catch sight
of a Merlin pumping past. Weather permitting, we’ll spend the greater
portion of the day birding throughout the refuge. We’ll then head south
to Avalon to check out what may be moving by in the way of seabirds.
Day 6: Higbee, the Meadows, and Hawk Watch. If there's
been a good flight overnight, we'll again start today at Higbee at
dawn. Next up is South Cape May Meadows, a long-time favorite location.
If bird waves are going through, we could be saturated by warbler
flocks thicker than fog. Patches of cedar and marsh surround the trail
out to the beach, and they can literally be dancing in movement from
tail-pumping Palm Warblers and fidgety Ruby-crowned Kinglets. We’ll
easily pick up more waterfowl here, as well as terns and wading birds.
A squadron of Royal Terns often keeps watch over the beach, and we may
luck into a late Piping Plover. Depending on the raptor movements, we
may once again return to the Hawk Watch to reap whatever the skies may
offer. While resting our eyes from the skies, we’ll be sure to check the
scrubby edge around the platform for hordes of sparrows including the
delicately-marked Lincoln’s Sparrow. We’ll return to Philadelphia for
the night.
Day 7: Philadelphia. The tour ends today in the morning.
