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Here we are, along with an assemblage of very excited Cape May locals, after we had the magnificent fortune of connecting with a Magnificent Frigatebird in Cape May Point. This bird had all the birders in the area, including our group, in a tizzy, though it was but one highlight in a week chock full of them for us! Photo by guide Tom Johnson.

The spring in Cape May is always interesting and dynamic, and this spring proved no exception. In fact, this was one of the best general migration weeks in spring in recent memory here. The forecast for copious rain lent some doubt to how much birding we would be able to get in on a couple of days, but we somehow skirted heavy rain for the most part (or rather, it skirted us), and the unsettled skies, overnight storms, and intermittent daytime drizzles contributed to some really phenomenal migration.

We started our birding with a bang on Sunday afternoon, immediately going to see a staked out Barred Owl family, and successfully ogling an adorable fluffy youngster and its more concealed parent. This auspicious start was a harbinger of things to come, with each stop better than the last. Our week of birding took us through all the major habitats of Cape May County, from the rich deciduous forest in the north, to the extensive saltmarsh along the east coast, to the bayside beaches, to the manicured neighborhoods on Cape Island sheltered behind native dune scrub.

The Horseshoe Crab spectacle along the Delaware Bayshore was especially delightful this year, with a large spawning event taking place on the nights just prior to our visits. In addition to some up close and personal views of the crabs and their eggs, we were able to enjoy the Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Sandpipers amidst the throngs of Laughing and Herring Gulls, all here to fatten up on as many Horseshoe Crab eggs as they could get down their gullets. Our shorebird experience didn’t end with this famous spectacle either, as we got to see a tremendous number of shorebirds in the managed impoundments at Heislerville and Brigantine during high tides. Mixed into the several thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers at these two spots were a veritable horde of White-rumped Sandpipers, as we tallied nearly a hundred of these low density migrants when all was said and done. Shorebirds were also migrating over Cape May in large numbers most days, and we were treated to a constant flow of this visible migration over the South Cape May Meadows and Cape May Point State Park.

Not to be outdone, passerines put in a fantastic showing as well. Wherever we went, from the barrier beaches along the coast, to the neighborhoods of Cape May Point, or the trails of the various parks, we were bombarded with warblers of every description. Bay-breasted Warblers, of which we are often happy to see one or two, seemed to be everywhere, and Magnolia and Blackpoll warblers seemed to be dripping from the trees at times. We were wowed by the brilliant orange throats of male Blackburnian Warblers, excited by the drop-ins of migrating Black-billed Cuckoos twice (!!), and even got to bask in the loud song of the visiting rare Swainson’s Warbler, which was cooperative enough to perch up high in the open for almost ten minutes as we watched it through scopes at our leisure!

The breeders of Cape May were in full bloom too, as Belleplain State Forest produced its usual delightful array of breeders, including Hooded, Blue-winged, and Worm-eating warblers, Wood Thrush, Summer Tanager, Ovenbird, and Acadian Flycatcher. Our trip to the heron rookery in Ocean City didn’t disappoint, with spectacular views of breeding herons (including an electric Little Blue Heron), and we had a bonus in the form of the first evidence of breeding of White-faced Ibis for the state of New Jersey. For the second year in a row, our tour visit to the site coincided with a great wave of songbirds passing through first thing in the morning, with the highlights here being Summer Tanager, Bay-breasted Warbler, and one of the aforementioned Black-billed Cuckoos. Our boat ride into the back bays of Cape May aboard the Osprey was fantastic. In addition to basking in the wealth of Ospreys and their many makes and models of nests, we had an intimate experience with a pair of Clapper Rails, saw a Western Willet, and discovered the site of a Peregrine Falcon nest when the pair did a prey delivery to a nook inside a bridge we were passing under.

This week was Cape May at its best, which is really saying something, and we couldn’t have asked for a group of people more interested in all the various pieces of natural history that Cape May has to offer. It was an absolute pleasure, not only thanks to the weather and the setting, but to all of you who joined us. Cheers, and see you in the field!

-Doug & Tom

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

The reason for the legendary annual assemblage of shorebirds on the Delaware Bay coast are these tiny, beautiful, life-giving orbs: Horseshoe Crab eggs! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Blackburnian Warblers are drop dead gorgeous, and luckily they showed well this year, including this male at Stone Harbor. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

We had an amazing experience finding a new Peregrine Falcon nest during our boat trip through the bay bays of Cape May. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Is there any doubt that this Osprey has the best nest? It even has space for your jacket to be hung. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Clapper Rails put on a good show for us, and gave us great views as we traveled through the salt-marsh on the Osprey boat. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

We were completely mesmerized by the masses of shorebirds at Heislerville, with thousands upon thousands of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, and more (and all in high breeding plumage to boot). Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Western Willet was a nice surprise on our boat ride, though it was the second year in a row we encountered one of these. This is in the category of "sure-to-be-split at some point", since their distribution and appearance is so different from that of the locally breeding, long-distance migrant Eastern Willets. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

We were fortunate to see one Black-billed Cuckoo, so to see two of them in two days, and both well, was a real treat! This one at the Wetlands Institute had just arrived from the east, perhaps coming in from out over the ocean, and immediately began stealthily hunting tent caterpillars. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Chimney Swifts aren't rare, but they put on a particularly good showing this year by consistently flying very low, even allowing us to see the tiny little spines at the end of the tail! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

This Swainson's Warbler, due to its rarity, voice, and (eventual) cooperativeness, was a true favorite for all. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

We experienced a huge flock of Whimbrel in the back bay salt marsh. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

It's not often that you get this perspective on the matte black back of a Magnolia Warbler, but this was the norm at Ocean City! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

This Killdeer either was about to become a superhero, or was being a great parent, during a passing rainstorm at the Meadows. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

How can something be so red?! The Summer Tanagers at Belleplain really dazzled. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Spring was definitely in the air despite the overcast skies, as these displaying Red-winged Blackbirds vying for the affection of a female can attest to. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Snap Daddy along the road near Heislerville. This is one we didn't dare pick up! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

It was all smiles and cameras as a wonderful Swainson's Warbler (!!!) serenaded us with its loud song on our first morning! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 176 bird taxa and 5 mammal taxa