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It’s the very merry month of
May. And you know what that
means... No, not Maypole dancing
– Birding. Two of birding’s
biggest events occur in the
month of May here in Cape May.
The World Series of Birding
is May 14th and
Cape May Spring Weekend is
May 20-22.
The World Series of Birding is a
24-hour contest in which teams
compete for the honor of
being the team  to spot the most species of birds in a single 24-hour period.
Each team raises money that goes
entirely to conservation – be it
a high school conservation
program, saving the Rain Forest,
or preserving our nature trails.
Because there are various levels
of competition from the
corporately sponsored to youth
teams, anyone can participate. West Cape May
Elementary School, for example, already has 20-plus participants.
And the teams can pick from a
variety of geographical
perimeters. For example the
overly zealous can try to cover
the entire state of New Jersey
or just concentrate on the areas
south of the canal. They even
have something for the
incredibly stationary types
called The Big Sit. Yes, you can
just sit in one spot and see how
many different kinds of birds
come your way.
NOTE: 2005 WORLD SERIES
WINNERS -
CLICK HERE
Next is Spring Weekend. “Birds
know this (Cape May) is the
place to be…” according to the
brochure and the New Jersey
Audubon Society invites you to
come on down for the show of
shows.
Did you know that Cape May
has been a destination point for birds... and bird observers... for over two
centuries? Well, we’re sure the birds have been in on the secret for longer but
bird observers - among them John Audubon, who set out to paint and describe all
the birds of North America – have found Cape May, West Cape May, and Cape May
Point to be a migratory Mecca for our fine feathered friends.
But why? More than 400 species
have been sited on the peninsula
during the fall migration. Why
do they pick Cape May as their
stopping off point?
We posed this same question
recently to Mark Garland, senior
naturalist at the Cape May Bird
Observatory on East Lake Drive
in Cape May Point and as always,
he was happy to answer the
question.
Basically, he explained,
those birds with “frequent flyer miles are tied to a certain habitat and right
around
 Cape
May, they can find a tremendous variety of habitats.”
In the spring, birds are
looking for two things – a protected and diverse habitat for nesting. In the fall, they are also looking for food and shelter in a
place that feels like home. The goal in the fall is to rest up and bulk up for the
trip across the Delaware River.
“Think of Cape May,”
said Mark, “as a Holiday Inn right on the main road.” Birds travel in a
North-South line and Cape May is a good
resting point on the journey. It represents the end of land in the fall and the
beginning of land in the spring.
“You have 13-14 miles of open water you have to cross,"
Mark continued, "You can’t stop
like 5 miles into the trip because if you stop, you’ll die. So, you need to be
well rested and well fed. Spring, however is the reverse. You need to rest after
the journey and replenish.”
Preserving and expanding
this "Holiday Inn for Birds" is vital for their survival as well as the survival
of the plants, animals, and marine life that sustain the habitats found in Cape
May, Cape May Point and West Cape May.
The next question though is
"What are these habitats?"
Mark had no trouble
rattling off the list. Salt Marshes. Swamp or Wet
Woods (the difference between a marsh and a swamp is that the swamp equals water
plus trees). Fresh Water Marshes and Ponds. Pine Forest. Salt Water. Grasslands and Open
Fields.
OK. Now the real question
which I, as a non-birder feel compelled to ask - Who are these birds? Can you
give me an example of a bird that only lives in these places and what does that
bird look like?
No problemo, he said.
Well, there is one problem – what do they look like? Telling me that the Cape
May Warbler likes Pine trees is good but what does this little bitty
Warbler look like? Thanks to the photography of
Karl Lukens and
with an assist from some other sources, we can put a picture to a name. Then,
one day, when you or me find ourselves in a certain habitat and see a certain
bird, we might have a pretty good chance of identifying that bird. Let’s just
think of these examples as Birding 101.
We’ll begin with the very
lovely and very tiny songbirds.
The Cape May
Warbler can be found in the Pine Forests.
Its only habitat is the pine
forest. “If there is only one pine tree, like the one in my backyard,” said
Mark, “the Pine Warbler will find it.”
It is a small, active,
insect-eating songbird which is 4.75 inches in length. It has a thin, pointed
bill with a bright yellow throat and breast. The male Cape May Warbler has more
streaking across the breast and a pale mark on the side of the neck.
The Prothonotary
Warbler’s habitat is fresh water swamps like the ones found at Rhea's Farm
off of Bayshore Road or at the back part of Higbees Beach,
and the northern part of Cape May County.
Like its cousin, the Pine
Warbler, the Prothonotary Warbler is also a small, (4.75 inches) active,
insect-eating songbird with a thin, pointed bill. It has a brilliant
yellow-orange head with blue-gray wings and tail. Mark said the name
“Prothonotary” refers to the bright, yellow robes worn by the clerks in the
Roman Catholic Church. The prothonotary winters in Central and South America.
 The Barred Owl can
also be found in swamps, and wet woods. Mark says there are three pairs nesting
currently on the island. They can be found at Hidden Valley Horse Ranch, Higbee Beach
viewing towers, Pine Creek Marshes, Les Rhea’s farm, off Bayshore Road, and in
the northern part of Cape May County.
He says the Barred Owl is not a migrant bird but is an another example of a bird
tied to a habitat – in other words it’s not going to be happy and therefore will
not reproduce anywhere else. I’m sure we’ve all met people like that – I know I
have..
The Clapper Rail,
aka, mud hen, inhabits the salt marshes which are so abundant on the shoreline
of the bay. You can also find them in a little pocket of marsh behind the Marina
on the west side of Cape Island Creek. The Clapper Rail is an example of a bird that is tied to that habitat and only that
habitat and will not go anywhere but the salt marshes. It is a medium sized
chicken-like bird. It stands 13-16 inches – with a wing span of 20 inches. As
you can see, not nearly as pretty and cute as the warblers but lovable just the
same.
 The Northern Gannet
is tremendously cute – sort of like a seagull with a make-over. It is strictly a
salt water bird. Mark says that if by accident it should wander out bayside, it
will immediately turn around and head out to sea. These Pelagic birds are never
found in any other habitat and only come ashore to breed. They average 31 inches
with a wing span of 70 inches. The are amazing to watch over the water because
they dive for fish from the air. Flocks engage in spectacular bouts of
plunge-diving for fish, with hundreds of birds diving into the ocean from
heights of up to 130 feet. So don’t be hanging out the back of a sightseeing
boat with a fish in your hand.
The Eastern Meadowlark
likes to sing its song in open fields like the ones found along Bayshore
Road. Mark says they used to nest in the open fields along New England Road but
new home construction over the last two years has stripped them of that habitat.
Too bad birds can’t enforce their own eminent domain. They need to form a union
because the Meadowlark is declining rapidly because of habitat loss. Anyway,
they can still be found at Hidden Valley Horse Ranch, Higbee’s Beach, the
northern part of Cape May County
and the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. The Eastern Meadowlark is not a Lark
but rather a member of the family Icteridae, along with blackbirds and orioles.
A male Meadowlark typically has two mates at a time, on rare occasions when he
is feeling particularly frisky – three. And as you can tell my the picture – he
is a shy guy when it comes to his photo being taken.
 The Blue-Winged Teal
frolics in fresh water marshes and ponds and can be found near the Nature
Center on Delaware Avenue, South Cape May Meadows, Wildwood Crest and the Coast
Guard Base, also at Delaware and Pennsylvania avenues. Its habitat is tied to
the fresh water marshes and ponds. It is a small duck, 14-16 inches, with a wing
span of around 2feet. The male's call is a loud, high whistle or a nasal bleat.
The female gives loud, evenly spaced quacks. These sounds are very similar to
ones heard in my house around 6:30AM, not generating from the bird population, I
might add
So there you go. I know this
mini-birding 101 lesson helped me a lot because I can never see the birds even
on the couple of occasions when I’ve gone looking for them so it’s good to at
least know what you’re looking for. My thanks to Mark Garland and to the New Jersey
Audubon Society and of course
photographer Karl Lukens. Come to Cape May
– if not for the World
Series of Birding – then for the Spring Weekend. “Congregate where the birds
migrate” and you might get lucky.
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