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Cape May Bird Observatory
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School of Birding Workshops
WINTER WORKSHOPS
Winter Warmers!
Saturday & Sunday, January 12 & 13, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Mike Crewe
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Winter is far from the doldrums in Cape May. We’ll target hard-to-find winter specialties like Purple Sandpiper, Great Cormorant, Harlequin Duck and many others. Ocean watching means a chance for all three scoters, eiders, loons, and Northern Gannets or something really unusual, like an alcid or a special gull. Perhaps winter finches like Red Crossbills will appear at Cape May Point. Perhaps we'll have a chance at a lingering rarity found during the Christmas Bird Count.
Day One of this workshop will focus on the Cape May area. Day Two may explore either up the Delaware Bayshore to Cumberland County or up the coast to Atlantic County, depending on the conditions and what’s being seen. We’ll include an indoor session on tougher winter ID’s.
Techniques of Field Observation
Saturday, January 19, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
Set the tone for the new year of birding by sharpening your field skills. This is the workshop that every birder wishes they’d taken. Binoculars show you the bird. Field guides identify the bird. But how many times have you studied a bird only to discover that all the information you gathered has evaporated by the time you get to the field guide, or that the one field mark you need to distinguish one feathered gremlin from another was the one thing you failed to note. This workshop will teach you how to look, record and recall and – most importantly – how to bird like an expert (even before you become one!).
Wintering Hawks, Eagles and Owls
Saturday thru Monday, January 19 to 21, 2013 (3 days)
Leader: Pete Dunne
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $225 members; $265 nonmembers
A weekend of raptor watching and learning. Thirteen diurnal raptors and all eight New Jersey owls are possible on this workshop, thanks to southern New Jersey’s mosaic of prey-rich habitats. You’ll see a lot of other great birds in the process, along with some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes on the Eastern Seaboard. Learn to find and recognize good wintering hawk and owl habitat. The bulk of this workshop is in the field, with indoor sessions to heighten your understanding of wintering birds of prey. Past years have featured a Golden Eagle hunting Snow Geese in the company of several Bald Eagles, plus point-blank Eastern Screech-owl, Rough-legged Hawks of both color morphs and hunting Short-eared and Great Horned Owls.
NEW! Break Into Birding
Saturday & Sunday, February 16 & 17, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Pete Dunne
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration Required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
This is the introductory course that you wish you'd taken! One that imparts the basics, puts the accent on in-the-field learning, and never loses sight of the fact that bird watching is, after all, supposed to be FUN. You'll discover how to get the most out of your field guide and optics. You'll learn where to go to find birds and how to identify them once you find them using all the hints and clues birds are offering you. It's a course for absolute beginners, backyard birders who want to expand their horizon, and birders whose skills have grown a bit rusty.
Gulls Simplified
Saturday, March 9, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
From the brown and mottled to the clean and gray, you either love gulls or you don’t. Whatever camp you’re in, join us for a morning in the field learning the easy way to separate the four common winter gulls and practicing sifting flocks of gulls for something rare, and perhaps even find an Iceland Gull or other species. We’ll also cut through the fancy terminology around age and molt. After lunch we’ll head indoors for a review of gull plumages, aging, and some of the rarer species.
SPRING WORKSHOPS
Field Sketching for Beginners
Saturday, April 13, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Louise Zemaitis
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
There is no better way to learn the details of a bird’s structure and plumage than to draw it, and many expert birders, like Louise, are also artists. Learn tips and tricks for quickly sketching birds in the field when there may not be time for painstaking observation. Drawing birds brings advantages to non-artists, too, simply from the need to look at a bird critically in order to draw it, and is a great way to document an unusual species. No artistic talent or training needed. This workshop has been very popular in the past – sign up early!
Introduction to Bird Photography
Saturday & Sunday, April 20 & 21, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Scott Whittle
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Register early – there was a waiting list last year, and those who attended clamored for more! Whether you’re looking to accelerate your identification skills, or show the world how you see the birds around you, the camera is a perfect tool. In this two-day workshop, professional photographer Scott Whittle will help you work with the equipment you have to achieve your photographic goals. The course will include an overview of gear and how to use it, shooting sessions in the field, and how to develop a digital workflow that gets you the best possible image. Participants are encouraged to bring their cameras and laptops, or borrow equipment.
Spring Migration Peak Week Workshop
Friday thru Sunday, May 3 thru 5, 2013 (3 days)
Leader: Louise Zemaitis
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $225 members; $265 nonmembers
Birding for everything! Celebrate spring with migrating songbirds deposited by the night sky and shorebirds teeming on the mudflats. Hooded and Kentucky Warblers sing in the shadows of Belleplain State Forest, while Summer Tanagers “piki-tuck” overhead. Red Knots and Sanderlings feed in mosaics of rust and silver on the Delaware Bay shore and egrets and herons dot the back bay meadows. This work-shop is all about diversity and focuses not only on identifying the birds, but also learning about their lives.
Birding by Ear: The Calls and Songs of Eastern Birds
Monday & Tuesday, May 6 & 7, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Everyone’s dreamed of learning bird songs, and everyone can. Even experienced birders spend time each spring “getting their ear in,” re-learning the songs they already know. Jump-start your audio-recall by learning how to listen critically, group and categorize song types, and (as your song and call repertoire grow) gain confidence and skill. Many of southern New Jersey’s breeding birds are back and singing heartily, while migrants will be joining the chorus, too.
Warblers by Sight and Sound
Wednesday & Thursday, May 8 & 9, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Scott Whittle
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
It’s been suggested that without the excitement of warblers in the spring, there would be no bird watching in North America as we know it today. No family of North American birds is so colorful, vocal, and animate. No spring is complete without a trip seeking warbler waves. Here’s your trip. Timed to catch the peak of the northern migrant wave with species like Blackburnian and Canada, and also to engage southern breeders like Hooded and Prothonotary. And did we mention that vireos, thrushes, and tanagers will also be about?
Spring Shorebirds and Southern Breeders
Monday & Tuesday, May 13 & 14, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Pete Dunne
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Come with us to witness Heislerville’s celebrated shorebird concentration (not to mention the whole Delaware Bay) coupled with Belleplain State Forest (not to mention nearby Cumberland County hotspots) – all resulting in a lot of great birds, all close together and all offering great learning opportunities. Red Knots, Dunlin, maybe a Curlew Sandpiper plus woodland birds like Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers and Summer Tanagers.
Identifying Trees
Saturday, June 8, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Mike Crewe
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
As birdwatchers it’s useful to know at least the commoner trees of our area so that we can more easily explain where that elusive bird is located. But knowing trees can also help you understand more about the habitats that birds live in. We will spend the whole day in the field and visit several locations, covering the full suite of Cape May habitats. Learn just which parts of which species are important for identification and enjoy putting what you have learned into practice! Oaks, elms, hackberries, pines, cedars, hickories and much more.
SUMMER WORKSHOPS
Here Be Dragons!
Saturday, July 13, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Mike Crewe
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Will Kerling
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
No other insects captivate us in quite the same way as butterflies, with their colorful wings and graceful flight styles. Spend a day around Cape May County, enjoying butterflies while at the same time learning identification tips and cues from the experts. Over 120 species have been recorded in the county and, whilst we won’t see that many in a single day, we shall nevertheless see a good cross-section, and learn how to tell them apart.
Butterfly Bonanza
Thursday, July 18, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Will Kerling
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Mike Crewe
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
No other insects captivate us in quite the same way as butterflies, with their colorful wings and graceful flight styles. Spend a day around Cape May County, enjoying butterflies while at the same time learning identification tips and cues from the experts. Over 120 species have been recorded in the county and, whilst we won’t see that many in a single day, we shall nevertheless see a good cross-section, and learn how to tell them apart.
Bombay Hook: Shorebird Prime-time
Thursday, July 25, 2013 (1 day)
Leader: Mike & Megan Crewe
Preregistration required.
Cost: $85 members; $125 nonmembers
Experience the first wave of southbound shorebirds in a well-known birding hot spot, one with a different species mix than oft-visited locations like Cape May, Brigantine or Jamaica Bay. Late July means we’ll be dealing with adults returning from the Arctic, many still wearing their breeding garb, which offers more clues and confidence for shorebirders. Bombay Hook is known for lots of shorebirds and lots of good ones, including the big fancy ones like American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts. The area has a reputation for attracting rarities, too, so perhaps our workshop will be spiced by a Ruff or Curlew Sandpiper.
Shorebirds with the Man Who Wrote the Book
Wednesday & Thursday, August 21 & 22, 2013
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants.
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
It is not surprising Houghton Mifflin’s landmark The Shorebird Guide sprang from the brains and hands of three Cape May birders and authors. Now you can experience some of the east coast’s best shorebirding while guided by one of them. Michael O’Brien is equal parts skilled birder and superb teacher. Search storied locations like Bunker Pond, the South Cape May Meadows, Stone Harbor, and Brigantine NWR forpeeps, plovers and yellowlegs plus possible gems like phalaropes or godwits. Over 25 plovers and sandpipers are in easy reach, with some species numbering in the thousands. Learn to begin with size, shape, behavior and voice, and then move on to careful examination of plumage details, just as The Shorebird Guide teaches.
AUTUMN WORKSHOPSBirds in Flight
Wednesday & Thursday, September 4 & 5, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
You’ve heard of the legendary Higbee Dike, where migrant songbirds are identified and counted as they fly past. How do those guys do it? Here’s your chance to learn from one of “those guys!” For certain groups of birds – ducks, seabirds, raptors – flight identification techniques have been well established. But have you ever longingly watched a songbird fly over, wishing it would perch so you could identify it? Or had a flock of blackbirds on the horizon and wondered if they were grackles or red-wingeds? Learn how to apply what we’ve learned about flight ID to any bird that crosses your air space, be it a familiar-in-flight Sharp-shinned Hawk, or a relative stranger like a tanager or oriole.
Fall Migration Songbird Peak
Friday & Saturday, September 6 & 7, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Louise Zemaitis
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Michael O'Brien
Preregistration required.Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Mid-September straddles the migratory timetable; you’re not too late for shorebirds, not too early for hawks, and right on time for warblers and other Neotropical migrants. Indeed, it is the great variety of songbirds heading south during early September that will be the main target of this three-day field workshop and we shall have ample opportunity to learn these birds both by sight and sound. We will go where weather conditions dictate and will strive to see the greatest species diversity.
Introduction to Bird Photography
Saturday & Sunday, September 14 & 15, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Scott Whittle
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Register early – there was a waiting list last year, and those who attended clamored for more! Whether you’re looking to accelerate your identification skills, or show the world how you see the birds around you, the camera is a perfect tool. In this two-day workshop, professional photographer Scott Whittle will help you work with the equipment you have to achieve your photographic goals. The course will include an overview of gear and how to use it, shooting sessions in the field, and how to develop a digital workflow that gets you the best possible image. Participants are encouraged to bring their cameras and laptops, or borrow equipment.
Falcon Fest & Hawks on High
Saturday & Sunday, September 28 & 29, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Pete Dunne
Second Leader will be added if registration warrants
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
Bird Cape May at the peak time for raptor diversity, with experts who know identification tricks unavailable anywhere else! This workshop will be “just birding,” no indoor workshop time (unless severe weather dictates otherwise) at the prime time to be in Cape May. Expect many falcons (including Peregrines), plus accipiters, buteos, harriers, ospreys and eagles. Though our aim will be to study and appreciate the sometimesspectacular passage of falcon species through Cape May at this time of year, we shall be in a prime location to enjoy other migrants too and, depending on the conditions, we may also seek shorebirds, late warblers, early sparrows, and more.Advanced Birding by EarSaturday & Sunday, October 5 & 6, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembersExperience the cutting edge of birding! Birds don’t sing much in the fall – but they sure do call. Chip notes, flight notes and critical listening are the primary subjects of this workshop, led by the man who wrote the book (well, made the CD-ROM) on flight calls. Two days with Michael equals years of struggle on your own. Includes optional night-time listening for nocturnal migrants. Learn to dissect a single note, determining whether it rises or falls, is clear or burry. You will never listen the same way again.Sparrow SamplerSaturday & Sunday, October 19 & 20, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Michael O'Brien
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Louise Zemaitis
Preregistration required.
Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembers
A workshop celebrating the LBJs (little brown jobs) of the bird world. Subtle and cryptic they might be; difficult to identify they are not, providing you have the right instructor, the right place and the right time. A time when lots of sparrows and lots of species abound. Common species like Swamp, Field, Savannah and Chipping. Uncommon ones like Clay-colored, Vesper, Lincoln’s, Nelson’s and Saltmarsh. Learn the basics of size, shape and behavior first, then practice examining plumage patterns to discover how stunning sparrows can be.
Hawks in Flight
Wednesday & Thursday, October 23 & 24, 2013 (2 days)
Leader: Pete Dunne
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Michael O'Brien
Preregistration required. Cost: $150 members; $190 nonmembersAt fifteen raptor species, this is the time of peak raptor diversity in Cape May. Perhaps including bonus birds like Golden Eagle and Swainson’s Hawk! It is a rare moment during late October in Cape May when something raptorial is not in view. Learn how to tell buteos from accipiters from falcons from eagles at the very edge of eyesight. Pete Dunne wrote the book that is the title of this workshop, and the only thing he enjoys more than watching hawks is imparting the knowledge he has accumulated during his 15,000 hawk watching hours.
Cape May with Everything on It
Monday thru Wednesday, October 28 thru 30, 2013 (3 days)
Leader: Louise Zemaitis
Second Leader (if registration warrants): Michael O'Brien
Preregistration required.
Cost: $225 members; $265 nonmembers
This is the time the local birders wait for. Crowds have diminished, and the most massive fallouts of the season commonly occur NOW! Sparrows, kinglets, bluebirds, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, and literally who knows what else, since this week starts the season for vagrants in Cape May. It’s also a great time for big raptors like buteos and Golden Eagle, and large seabird flights pass Avalon and Cape May Point nearly every day.
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