Cape May

Cape May, at the southern tip of New Jersey where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, is the most famous birding destination on the East Coast of the United States — a geographic funnel where migrating birds, hesitant to cross open water, pile up on the peninsula in extraordinary concentrations. Warblers, raptors, shorebirds and seabirds funnel through Cape May in numbers that have made it synonymous with migration and birding for more than a century.

The Victorian seaside resort town of Cape May (a National Historic Landmark for its extraordinary collection of Victorian architecture) anchors the point, with the Cape May Bird Observatory, Higbee Beach WMA, Cape May Point State Park and the Stone Harbor area providing the premier birding sites. The combination of world-class birding and one of America’s finest Victorian beach towns makes Cape May extraordinary. It is a treasured natural and cultural icon of New Jersey.

Cape May offers birding (the premier activity — the Cape May Bird Observatory at Northwood Center runs hawk counts, morning birding walks, guided tours and events throughout the migration season; Cape May Point State Park has the hawk watch platform; Higbee Beach WMA is the premier songbird migration spot), beach swimming and sunbathing at Cape May Beach and the Delaware Bay beaches, whale and dolphin watching boat tours from the Cape May marina, Victorian architecture tours and ghost tours of the historic district, nature trails and beach walks at Cape May Point State Park, and fishing. The hawk watch and songbird fallouts are the singular natural draws.

Fall migration (September through November) is the peak season, when billions of migrating birds funnel through the Cape May peninsula in enormous concentrations: warblers in September, shorebirds in August–September, hawks (sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, peregrine, merlin and more) in October, and owls and late migrants in November. The World Series of Birding (in May) and the Cape May Spring Festival bring peak spring-birding energy. Summer brings the beach crowds. Fall for the hawks and migrants is the singular highlight — visit in October for the hawk watch at its peak.

Cape May is one of the oldest seaside resorts in America — a fashionable destination for Philadelphia and New York elites as far back as the 1800s, with American presidents among its visitors. The Victorian era left Cape May with an extraordinary collection of ornate Victorian cottages, hotels and commercial buildings — now a National Historic Landmark District, the finest intact Victorian seaside resort in the country. The Cape May Bird Observatory was founded in 1976 and established the formal hawk count and migration-monitoring program that made Cape May internationally famous for birding. Cape May is a layered natural, cultural and historical icon.

Cape May sits at the southern tip of the Cape May Peninsula — a low-lying, sandy Pleistocene-age coastal plain, largely below 20 feet elevation, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south and the Delaware Bay to the west. The peninsula is underlain by sandy coastal-plain sediments and bounded by barrier beaches and dunes. The geographic position of Cape May — at the confluence of two large water bodies, on the Atlantic Flyway — creates the ‘funnel effect’ that concentrates migrating birds at the point. The flat, low sandy peninsula and the geographic funnel are the natural foundations of Cape May’s extraordinary character.

Cape May is one of the top five birding destinations in North America — tens of thousands of sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper’s hawks, merlins and peregrine falcons in October hawk counts; massive concentrations of warblers, vireos, thrushes and other neotropical migrants at Higbee Beach in September; enormous shorebird concentrations on the Delaware Bay beaches; rare pelagic seabirds offshore in fall; and the state’s best chance for unusual migrant finds year-round. Horseshoe crabs congregate on the Delaware Bay beaches in May (and the red knots that feed on their eggs are a spectacle). Cape May offers the finest birding on the East Coast.

The Cape May peninsula’s geographic position as a migration funnel is its most significant ecological feature, creating a concentration of migrating birds unmatched on the East Coast. The diverse habitats — coastal meadows, shrubby Higbee Beach WMA, the Cape May Point freshwater pond, the Atlantic beach, the Delaware Bay shore and the hawk-watch platform — support different migrant communities. Protecting this habitat mosaic, the beach stopover areas and the Delaware Bay horseshoe-crab beaches sustains the extraordinary migration concentrations. Light pollution reduction is a growing conservation priority at migration hotspots like Cape May.

Cape May holds a treasured place among the icons of birding and American seaside culture — the most celebrated birding destination on the East Coast, a National Historic Landmark Victorian resort, and a place where the great autumn migration of North American birds becomes a visceral and dramatic spectacle. The combination of world-class birding and extraordinary Victorian architecture, beaches and Delaware Bay scenery makes Cape May one-of-a-kind. Cape May is a cherished natural and cultural icon of New Jersey and the East Coast.

Cape May is at the southern tip of New Jersey, accessible by car via the Garden State Parkway (exit 0) or by the Cape May–Lewes Ferry (from Lewes, Delaware, across the Delaware Bay). The Cape May Bird Observatory Northwood Center (in Cape May Point) is the hub for birding resources, guided walks, and the hawk count. Cape May Point State Park (with the lighthouse and hawk-watch platform) and Higbee Beach WMA are a short drive or bike ride from downtown Cape May. The town has full services and excellent dining; book lodging well in advance for October hawk-watch weekends. Check CMBO for birding programs, hawk-count schedules and guided tours.

The Cape May Bird Observatory runs the formal hawk count, the banding stations, and the education and research programs that protect Cape May as a world birding destination. Visitors help by birding ethically at Higbee Beach WMA (stay on the trails during peak migration; playback of recordings attracts and exhausts migrants — avoid it), respecting the Nummy Island and other shorebird areas (do not flush shorebirds), reducing light pollution (inside and outside — migratory birds are killed by building lights at night), and supporting CMBO conservation programs. Protecting the habitat, the migration corridors and the horseshoe-crab beaches sustains this remarkable natural resource.

Cape May is a safe, well-visited resort town; the main outdoor cautions are beach safety (rip currents on the ocean side; always swim near the lifeguard stands when they are on duty) and the weather in fall migration (October hawk-watch days can be windy and cold on the exposed platform — dress in layers). The Delaware Bay beaches at high tide can be crowded with horseshoe crabs in May (wear shoes for beach walks). Watch for poison ivy in the shrubby areas at Higbee Beach WMA. Respect the beach safety rules, dress for wind and cool fall temperatures on the hawk-watch platform, and enjoy.

Cape May Point State Park follows NJ State Parks rules (free admission, no fee). Higbee Beach WMA is free and open to the public during daylight; hunting occurs in season (check NJDEP for dates). The Cape May Bird Observatory programs have fees (check CMBO for schedules). No audio playback of bird calls in birding areas (ethical birding standard). Dogs must be leashed on all trails and beaches (some ocean beaches are dog-free seasonally). Check NJ State Parks and CMBO for current birding program schedules, park rules and migration conditions before visiting.

The Victorian historic district of Cape May (National Historic Landmark — outstanding restaurants, Bed and Breakfasts, Victorian architecture tours and ghost tours), the Cape May–Lewes Ferry (across the Delaware Bay), Stone Harbor and Avalon (barrier island resort towns with excellent birding), the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge (significant shorebird and migratory bird habitat on the peninsula), and the Delaware Bay shoreline define the region. Cape May anchors the southern New Jersey outdoor and cultural experience. The birding, the beaches and the Victorian town make Cape May one of the finest coastal destinations on the East Coast.

Stand on the hawk-watch platform at Cape May Point State Park on a northwest-wind morning in mid-October — the combination of thousands of raptors streaming past and the excited hawk counters calling out species and numbers is one of the great natural experiences of the East Coast. Visit Higbee Beach WMA just before dawn in late September for the songbird migration — on a good morning after a cold front, every shrub holds a warbler. Check the CMBO website and the NJ Birds listserv for real-time migration reports. Arrive for October hawk-watch weekends with lodging already booked (months in advance), and bring a good spotting scope for the platform.