New Jersey

Birding Cape May

Program No. 14349RJ
With its many protected areas and variety of unique habitats, Cape May is a Mecca for both birds and birders alike. Come see songbirds in spring and raptors in the fall.

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At a Glance

Cape May has earned a reputation as one of North America's best birding locales because of its diverse set of protected natural areas at the intersection of two major migration flyways. Spring brings warblers and other songbirds. Autumn highlights hawks, falcons, eagles and other raptors. The backdrop is a charming seaside town with Victorian architecture and a scenic lighthouse.
Activity Level
Outdoor: No Sweat
Walking up to two miles daily on varied terrain; standing up to an hour at a time.

What You'll Learn

  • Explore Cape May Point State Park, site of the world-famous Cape May Hawk Watch, to spot the inhabitants of beaches, ponds, marshes, fields and coastal forests.
  • Experience an afternoon boat ride through Cape May Harbor into the salt marsh and back-bay environment, with a visit from a local birding authority.
  • Dine at the famous Lobster House after a field trip to one of the premier songbird migration hotspots on the East Coast.

General Notes

Due to the nature of this program, listening devices will be unavailable. All Road Scholar birding programs have a maximum participant-to-instructor ratio of 14:1 in the field. We adhere to the American Birding Association’s Code of Ethics. Learn more at http://www.aba.org/about/ethics.html Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Profile Image
Adehl Schwaderer
Adehl Schwaderer is a birder and nature enthusiast. She was first introduced to Cape May’s wonders in 2018 when she worked as an Interpretive Naturalist for Cape May Bird Observatory’s Hawkwatch fall migration project. She has since worked for organizations providing educational programs on environmental conservation, completed her master’s degree in Environmental Education and Parks & Resource Management, and made her way back to Cape May as Program Coordinator for the Cape May Bird Observatory. Adehl facilitates an array of birding programs and outreach opportunities.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Clay Sutton
Clay Sutton View biography
A life-long resident of Cape May, Clay Sutton has worked for the past decade as a self-employed environmental consultant, naturalist and field biologist. He also has experience as an environmental planner and program administrator, and served as the vice president of an environmental consulting firm, specializing in threatened and endangered species. Clay was a long-time instructor for the American Birding Association’s Institute for Field Ornithology, and is the co-author of several books including “Hawks in Flight,” “How to Spot Butterflies,” “How to Spot Hawks & Eagles,” and “How to Spot an Owl.”
Profile Image of Pat Sutton
Pat Sutton View biography
Pat Sutton is a freelance writer, photographer, naturalist, educator, lecturer and wildlife garden consultant. She utilizes her own garden as a “teaching garden,” and features it in many programs and workshops, and shows it during private wildlife garden explorations that she has led for 21 years. Pat and her husband, Clay, are the authors of the landmark book, “Birds and Birding at Cape May,” a summary of their efforts over many years to document and protect the migration and the hometown that they so love. Pat has been a working naturalist since 1977, first for the Cape May Point State Park and then for 21 years with New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory, where she was the naturalist and program director. Pat has a master’s from Rowan University in environmental education and an undergraduate degree in literature from the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Profile Image of Tish Byrne
Tish Byrne View biography
An artist and historian, Tish Byrne is passionate about all aspects of her native city and its environment after having lived in and led explorations at the Physick House, which belongs to Philadelphia Landmarks. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts later becoming an administrative assistant to the Director of the school. Presently, she leads excursions for the mural arts program, is a docent at Historic Christ Church and leads explorations of Philadelphia landmarks.
Profile Image of Mitchell Kramer
Mitchell Kramer View biography
Mitchell Kramer has a B.A. in playwriting from Hampshire College and attended Circle in the Square acting conservatory. He has worked off-Broadway and in regional theater including the New York Theater Workshop and Dorset Theater Festival. He is a costumed Historic Interpreter portraying Benjamin Franklin in Old City Philadelphia. Mitchell has written and produced plays for children and adults and a series of historically accurate stories about 18th century Philadelphia for Historic Philadelphia, Inc. He is on the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Cemetery.
Profile Image of Valerie Driscoll
Valerie Driscoll View biography
Valerie Driscoll is nearly a native of Cape May, as true natives are required to go back at least two generations. She is a teacher of mindfulness and a wellness coach, who practices locally as well as afar. Other interior pursuits include helping clients decorate, downsize and de-clutter their homes in addition to building new ones. Music, especially live, birding, yoga, cycling, reading and dancing are some of her other favorite activities.
Profile Image of Lauren Kain
Lauren Kain View biography
Lauren Biddle Kain is the site coordinator for Philadelphia Landmarks Road Scholar. She received her BS/BA from Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. After marriage and transfer to the San Diego area, she began working at EVENT NETWORK, a leading experiental retail operator, on behalf of cultural attractions such as zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, museums, science centers and other cultural attractions. Lauren and her family now reside in the Philadelphia area. She started working with Road Scholar as a junior Group Leader for Grandparent Programs.
Profile Image of Adehl Schwaderer
Adehl Schwaderer View biography
Adehl Schwaderer is a birder and nature enthusiast. She was first introduced to Cape May’s wonders in 2018 when she worked as an Interpretive Naturalist for Cape May Bird Observatory’s Hawkwatch fall migration project. She has since worked for organizations providing educational programs on environmental conservation, completed her master’s degree in Environmental Education and Parks & Resource Management, and made her way back to Cape May as Program Coordinator for the Cape May Bird Observatory. Adehl facilitates an array of birding programs and outreach opportunities.
Profile Image of Michael Lanzone
Michael Lanzone View biography
Michael Lanzone is the CEO of Cellular Tracking Technologies in Rio Grande, NJ, a company that develops high-end animal tracking devices for research worldwide. Over his career he has worked for various state and federal agencies and not-for profit organizations across the country. He has also worked on many other research and banding projects across the world and has specialized in technological advancements and applied conservation in ornithology including bioacoustics and Golden Eagle ecology and conservation. Mike enjoys birding, gardening, fishing, and photography.
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our published materials, programs are typically advertised more than a year prior to their start date. As a result, some program activities, schedules, accommodations, personnel, and other logistics occasionally change due to local conditions or circumstances. Should a major change occur, we will make every effort to alert you. For less significant changes, we will update you during orientation. Thank you for your understanding.
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6 days
5 nights
14 meals
5 B 4 L 5 D
DAY
1
Check-in, Program Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation
Cape May, NJ
D
The Inn of Cape May

Activity note: Hotel check-in from 4:00 p.m. Remember to bring your nametag (sent previously).

Afternoon: Program Registration: 4:00-6:00 p.m. After you check in and have your room assignment, join us at the Road Scholar table in the hotel meeting room to register with the program staff, get any updated information, and confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please locate your Group Leader and let them know you have arrived.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Evening: Orientation: 7:30 p.m. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.

DAY
2
Coastal Birding Field Trip, Birding Lectures
Cape May, NJ
B,L,D
The Inn of Cape May

Activity note: Getting on/off a Jitney, riding up to 5 miles. Walking up to 3 miles; sand, uneven terrain, paved walkways.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Morning: We’ll hop aboard the Jitney and head out on a field trip to Cape May Point State Park, site of the world-renowned Cape May Hawk Watch. We will begin at the park Seagrove Avenue, where we will be exploring beach, dune, freshwater pond, marsh, field, and coastal forest habitat. Our target species for this outing will be migrating songbirds and possible rarities, as well as wintering waterfowl. We’ll ride back to the hotel after our field trip.

Lunch: At the hotel.

Afternoon: We’ll gather for two lectures — one on birds and birding in Cape May and the other on hawks in flight — with experts Pat and Clay Sutton.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Evening: We’ll gather for a "Bird Identification Workshop"; with Adehl Schwaderer, Cape May Bird Observatory’s Program Coordinator.

DAY
3
Birding in Town, Bayshore, South Cape May Meadows, Lecture
Cape May, NJ
B,L,D
The Inn of Cape May

Activity note: Early morning pre-breakfast birding walk. Getting on/off a Jitney, riding up to 5 miles. Walking up to 3 miles; sand, uneven terrain, paved walkways.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: We will head out before breakfast for an early morning walk through Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area, the sight of CMBO’s Morning Flight Migration Count. We will be spending time along field and forest edges to track down as many migrating warbler species as possible. We will then return to the hotel for breakfast. Our mid-morning trip includes visiting various beaches in Cape May and Cape May Point to see a variety of gulls, terns, and other beach birds. We will end the morning at the Cape May Point State Park, where we will eat our boxed lunches.

Lunch: Boxed Lunch Provided

Afternoon: We will set out again for a birding field trip to the Nature Conservancy’s South Cape May Meadows property. This 200-acre refuge includes critical foraging and resting habitat for birds and wildlife. The preserve’s one-mile loop trail is characterized by dunes, freshwater wetlands, meadows, ponds, and a full mile of protected beach. It is an excellent place to view birdlife that may be present such as gulls, terns, herons, egrets, shorebirds, bitterns, rails, and ducks.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Evening: We'll gather for a lecture delivered by Mike Lanzone, Founder & CEO of Cellular Tracking Technologies entitled Connecting Technology and Wildlife to Answer the Big Conservation Questions of Today and Tomorrow.

DAY
4
The Beanery, Avalon Seawatch, Stone Harbor Point, Lecture
Cape May, NJ
B,L,D
The Inn of Cape May

Activity note: Getting on/off a Jitney; riding about 20 miles. Walking up to 3 miles; sand, uneven terrain, paved walkways.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Setting out again by Jitney, we will ride to Rea Farm — known locally as the Beanery — bordering Pond Creek Marsh. We will have special access to this private property as we look for high flying raptors and groups of sparrows. The mix of wet woods, farm fields, weedy edges, and farm ponds, is crucial habitat for millions of warblers, passerines, finches, and sparrows. We will then visit CMBO’s Northwood Center for some backyard birding, followed by a Monarch Tagging Demo to learn about the ecology, migration, and research surrounding the monarch butterfly.

Lunch: At a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Next, we will ride a few miles north on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway to the barrier island of Avalon-Stone Harbor. We will explore the Cape May Bird Observatory’s Avalon Seawatch on the northern end to witness seabird migration in action, then to Stone Harbor Point on the southern end to catch a glimpse of a variety of shorebirds.

Dinner: At the hotel.

Evening: We’ll gather for another lecture by a birding expert.

DAY
5
CMP State Park, Back Bay Birding Study Cruise
Cape May, NJ
B,L,D
The Inn of Cape May

Activity note: Activity Notes Early morning pre-breakfast field trip. Getting on/off a Jitney; riding about 5 miles. Getting on/off a boat; riding about 1 hour. Walking up to 3 miles; sand, uneven train, paved walkways.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: We’ll take the Jitney for a songbird banding demonstration at the South Cape May Meadows, led by New Jersey Audubon’s Vice President of Research, Dr. David Mizrahi. Our group will then travel to the Cape May Point State Park for a Raptor Banding Demonstration from the Cape May Raptor Banding Project. After the demonstration, we will then spend time on the Hawkwatch and park trails to raptor and songbird migration in action.

Lunch: We’ll ride to Lobster House Restaurant, a local favorite.

Afternoon: We will walk from the restaurant and board the Osprey Birding by Boat with Captain Bob and one of his naturalists, to see the habitats in and around the Cape May Harbor and any birds that may be present.

Dinner: At a local restaurant. Share favorite experiences with new Road Scholar friends during our farewell dinner.

Evening: We’ll gather for a Mindfulness and Birding presentation by Group Leader, Valerie Driscoll. At leisure, prepare for check-out and departure after our closing lecture in the morning.

DAY
6
Wrap-up Lecture, Program Concludes
Cape May, NJ
B

Activity note: Hotel check-out 11:00 a.m.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: Our birding expert will lead a wrap-up lecture. This concludes our program. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!






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