Springtime in Cape May *FULL*
Beloved by beachcombers and birders alike, the quaint seashore town of Cape May is a must-visit birding destination, from forests to salt marshes. It may surprise some to discover Cape May is one of the best places in the country to watch the miracle of bird migration. On this trip, we will land in Philadephia in time to catch wood-warblers such as the Blackpoll Warbler and American Redstart touch down over open water as they busily refuel for the last leg of their northern journey. We’ll also explore the coastal areas teeming with migrating and breeding shorebirds while savoring local seafood and taking in the seaside Victorian charm of the area.
The Grand Hotel will be our home base for the trip’s duration, providing a perfect jump-off point for discovering the many refuges, wildlife management areas, and parks to showcase the very best of New England birding.
We’ll start our Cape May adventure at Higbee Beach, the welcoming point for warblers and other migratory birds making their way north. At Stone Harbor point, we will look for Piping Plover and Black Skimmer along the New Jersey shore. Then we’ll search for shorebirds along Delaware Bayshore. We hope to find Red Knot feasting on Horseshoe Crab eggs. This area plays a vital role in their journey to the arctic. We’ll also search through saltmarshes for specialties such as Seaside and Saltmarsh Sparrow. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch a look at a Clapper Rail.
We’ll enjoy a boat trip one morning and explore destinations such as Cape May Point State Park, Belleplain State Forest, and Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. We’ll take a ferry to explore Cape Henlopen, looking for specialties such as Purple Sandpiper and will bird Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge and Great Marsh Preserve. Least Bittern, American Black Duck, and Swamp Sparrow will all be possibilities.
Throughout the trip, we will learn about the people of the area, pre-and post-colonialization, and the whaling and fishing history of the country’s oldest seaside resort town.
