Cape May Migration

Arrival in Philadelphia. Our Cape May birding tour will begin with a welcome dinner and an opportunity to meet our fellow travellers and discuss the days ahead.

Night in Philadelphia.

After breakfast, we will make the approximately two-hour drive to Cape May.
At Cape May Point State Park, we will spend time at the Cape May Hawkwatch platform and explore the coastal woods and marshy meadows. This habitat at the tip of the peninsula can hold good numbers of warblers, sparrows and vireos, while the ponds attract ducks such as Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall and American Wigeon.

Overhead, flocks of Tree Swallows may swirl around as we watch for migrating Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, Ospreys and falcons, including American Kestrels, Merlins and Peregrine Falcons.

We will allow time to check into our accommodation and take a short break. A visit to the beach will give us an opportunity to look through the gull and tern roosts. Laughing Gulls often gather here alongside Forster’s, Common and Royal Terns, Black Skimmers and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Offshore, we will watch for Parasitic Jaegers pursuing gulls and terns in search of a meal.

Night in Cape May.

Overhead will be ridiculous amounts of Tree Swallows swirling around, and we will spend some time on the deck watching migrating Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, Ospreys and various species of falcons like American Kestrels, Merlins and Peregrine Falcons. As the flight starts to slow down we’ll leave the State Park and have an afternoon check-in to hotel.

After check-in and a short respite, we will head back to the beach to look at the evening gull/tern roosts. Hordes of Laughing Gulls collect on the beach and with them are often flocks of Forster’s, Common and Royal Terns as well as Black Skimmers and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Offshore, Parasitic Jaegers are streaking through the foraging flocks looking for an easy meal to snatch from a gull. Night in Cape May.

An early visit to Higbee Dike and Beach will give us an opportunity to witness Cape May’s morning flight. After migrating through the night, many songbirds reaching the tip of the peninsula turn northward at dawn in search of suitable places to rest and feed. Under favourable conditions, hundreds or even thousands of birds may pass the dike. We will watch for warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, sparrows and other migrants as the sharp-eyed Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO) counters document their movements.

We will divide our time between watching the flight and exploring the brushy fields and woodlots as birds settle down to feed. Depending on conditions, we may also visit nearby migrant patches such as Rea Farm, where sheltered habitat offers further opportunities to search for songbirds. These sites can also produce unexpected migrants, adding an element of surprise to our birding.

We will also explore the coastal salt marshes around Nummy Island and the grounds of the Wetlands Institute. Here, we will look for secretive marsh birds such as Clapper Rail and Nelson’s, Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrows. Other possibilities include Tricolored Heron and Snowy Egret, along with shorebirds such as Black-bellied Plover, Marbled Godwit, Prairie Willet and Red Knot. The timing of our marsh visits will depend on tides and bird activity.

Night in Cape May.

We will continue exploring the birding sites of lower Cape May. Depending on conditions, we may return to Higbee Dike for another morning flight, visit the Coral Avenue deck to watch birds moving along the coast, or explore South Cape May Meadows. We will also have an opportunity to visit the Cape May Bird Observatory’s Northwood Center and look for migrants around nearby Lily Lake.

On our boat excursion, we will explore the salt marshes and tidal creeks behind the barrier islands. Travelling by boat gives us a different perspective on these coastal habitats and an opportunity to look for staging waders, terns and shorebirds. We will watch for birds roosting along the jetties and feeding on exposed mudflats, as well as the secretive inhabitants of the marsh grasses.

We may also return to Cape May Point State Park to check the hawk flight and see what other migrants have arrived.

Night in Cape May.

Today we will head north to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. This expansive refuge offers opportunities to observe waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds across extensive coastal wetlands. We will explore the wildlife drive and spend time birding around the visitor centre and nearby trails.

Among the ducks, we will look for Northern Pintail and American Wigeon, checking carefully for a possible Eurasian Wigeon. There is also a chance of encountering early-arriving Brant.

At Avalon Seawatch, we will visit another of the Cape May Bird Observatory’s migration counts, where observers record waterbirds moving along the coast. Possible species include Green-winged Teal, Surf and Black Scoters, Double-crested Cormorant and Northern Gannet, with a chance of Great Cormorant or an early Red-throated Loon. We will also check the shorebird flocks on the rocks for Western and Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones, and scan offshore for passing egrets, terns and jaegers.

Night in Cape May.

Today we will take the ferry from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware. During the crossing, we will watch for seabirds, including the possibility of jaegers over Delaware Bay.

At Cape Henlopen State Park, we will search for Brown-headed Nuthatch and explore the woodland trails for other birds. We will then continue to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, where the wildlife drive provides opportunities to look for waterfowl, shorebirds and wading birds across the wetlands.

After birding, we will continue to Philadelphia for our final dinner together.

Night in Philadelphia.