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Cape May Bird Observatory
General Info

 

Advance registration is now closed.

You may r
egister in person during the event at the

NJ Audubon desk in the lobby of the Grand Hotel.

 


 

 

Experience the famous shorebird and horseshoe crab phenomenon along with spring warbler migration
at the place synonymous with migration - Cape May, NJ.  Whether you come for the weekend or just a day,
you can choose from a variety of field trips, lectures, indoor and outdoor workshops, shorebird watches, kayak and back bay boat trips, and special evening programs.  With friendly and easy-paced field trips to Cape May's birding hot spots led by North America's finest naturalists, there is something for everyone - from the basic beginner to the seasoned naturalist.  Festival bird checklist can tally upwards to 200 species.

 

Mike Hannisian will share his photography skills in the field and is
offering diverse daily indoor workshops that will cover selecting
equipment, organizing, storing and accessing your photos, as well
as processing digital images. 

Bring your equipment (and manual) with you.

Enjoy Birding by Boattm ♦ aboard The Osprey with trips throughout the
festival exploring beautiful Cape Island Creek Preserve, NJ’s 
southernmost
salt marsh and critical migration stopover.  Trips remain
on placid inland waters.  Excellent views of many species unique to the salt marsh, including Osprey,
herons, egrets, oystercatchers, shorebirds, 
and possibly rails.  The Osprey has
an open and enclosed viewing deck with sliding glass panoramic windows.  ♦Additional cost; registration required.




Kayak
♦ excursions along Cape Island Creek with an experienced naturalists for up close looks at Osprey, egrets and other marine life.  Kayaks provided for a fun, safe adventure.  No experience or equipment needed.  
♦Additional cost; registration required.


 

Each spring during the high tides of the new and full moons, thousands of 
horseshoe crabs descend on the Delaware Bay shoreline to spawn.  
Timing is everything and we will be just days from May’s full moon. 
Experience the phenomena, up-close and personal with our experienced naturalists.

 

Join Bert Filemyr as he recollects what it was like during 1937 
when Witmer Stone first encountered our shorebird populations; 
visit those same spots now & see what it’s like over 75 years later.



Bring your bicycle and your binoculars
and enjoy a relaxing morning 
biking
through Belleplain State Forest
.


Come hear Frenchtown poet, John Smith
as he reads from his recently released poetry
collection, Even That Indigo.

Pete Dunne describes John's poetry... “his
words are stepping stones into the natural
world, bridging it and drawing from it insights
that 
resonate in the human mind and soul.”

 

 



B
irds have the power to captivate, even change lives.  Here is the story of a woman who could and a small, blue, bellwether bird that increasingly cannot maintain itself in this world of our making.  Cerulean Blues is part journey, part documentary, and wholly engaging.                       Join author, Katie Fallon, on her journey.