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It’s In Your Nature: Cape May in New Jersey a birding hot spot best this time of year

Published September 19. 2026 09:11AM

Back in July I penned a column highlighting probably my best birding and nature area, Assateague Island, off Maryland and Virginia.

I guess because we have so little shoreline and marsh areas in the Times News area, this hot spot with a great variety and abundance of shore birds and wading birds, intrigues me.

In about the same or a little less driving time, Cape May, New Jersey, runs a close second.

I’ve not birded the Cape May area in summer, but I have made of number of trips to this beautiful town, and most special to me, its bird variety. My trips there have mostly been from mid-September to early October. If you’re thinking of birding there, this is THE time.

I purposely planned this Spotlight column to possibly pique your interest to waking up early, making a three-hour drive and spending a day at a number of good birding locations.

If you enjoy the beach, accommodations are close by and you can combine soaking up some sun while adding to your birding life list.

I was first attracted to Cape May after reading the area’s raptor migration reports.

At Cape May Point, a number of expert volunteers man an elevated platform that faces north, and depending on the weather conditions, you could see hundreds of birds in a few hours.

When you arrive in the parking lot next to the Cape May Lighthouse, you will see the raised birding area. Stop for a moment and look at the information board listing recent raptor totals; they may surprise you. If you’re not a great birder, just listen to the experts there who will be identifying what is flying overhead or close by.

If you arrive in Cape May very early, shortly after sunrise, I would suggest you make a stop at South Cape May Meadows. You’ll see the signs for the parking area on the left off Sunset Boulevard. There are two gravelly walking paths/roads that will get you in the heart of the morning passerine and shorebird migrations.

Bayberry, persimmon trees and other deciduous trees may be bustling with feeding birds. Continue a bit farther and you’ll get to the beach area. I bet harriers, sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks will be flying just over your head.

There is another birding area along the Delaware Bay’s eastern shore, Higbee Beach. It’s only a few minutes’ drive on Bayshore Road off Sunset Boulevard heading west. Here, look for a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds.

If you can fit all three areas into your morning schedule you may be in awe of the variety of birds.

If you luckily pick the right days when tree swallows congregate there, their sheer numbers are stunning.

I hope you take a chance and visit. (Warning: Once you’ve visited here once, you’ll feel you have to return again and again.) Remember, I warned you.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True/False — Tree swallows and barn swallow may remain along the East Coast eating bayberries all winter.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Only bald eagles nest in Pennsylvania, not golden eagles.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com

A great landmark, the Cape May Lighthouse in New Jersey may be worth the drive there alone. Use it to help you find the Cape May Point bird observation area.
A spacious parking lot will greet you at the Cape May Lighthouse. Look to the north end of the lot and a large, easily accessible raised platform is in view. Look and listen for the expert birders helping you identify the raptors that seem to be everywhere.
Along with views of sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper’s hawks, merlins, kestrels and peregrine falcons, this coastal flyway will allow you to get some nice looks at migrating ospreys, some flying just over your heads.
Before you walk onto the observation deck, make sure you read the updated sign board with the daily and season totals of the migrants.
If you pick an ideal time the skies around the bird watch and even the beach area may almost be blackened by thousands of tree swallows massing before venturing farther south.
If you’ve gone to the New Jersey shore you are familiar with the various gull species that converge when someone feeds them. But in late September and early October, you might find a thousand tree swallows resting on the sands of Cape May.
Bayberries are found all around the protected areas of Cape May and Cape May Point. They serve as excellent food for warbler species, and of course, some of the thousands of tree swallows.
On your early morning walk around South Cape May Meadows, the bayberries and trees are alive with small birds, in particular, yellow-rumped warblers.
Another species that can congregate on the beach is the black skimmer. These uncommon, but regular visitors, make quite a sight resting and then flying off like a big swallow flock later.
Don’t bypass South Cape May Meadows. A preserve, it offers easy walking, plenty of birds, some ponds holding shorebirds, and even an elevated tower to better oversee the area and bird life.
Black skimmers take flight after resting on the beach at Cape May. They often do much of their feeding at dusk, using their longer lower bill (mandible) to pick up minnows from the surface of a bay. They are not small like swallows, but have a 3½-foot wingspan. BARRY REED/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Twice I was fortunate to find a juvenile peregrine falcon perched on the dunes near South Cape May Meadows. Our fastest flying birds, they will pursue the gulls that frequent the beach area.
Only a mile or two west of Cape May Point is Higbee Beach. Overlooking the Delaware Bay, you could find sea ducks, like this surf scoter, feeding there.
Every now and then a straggler from across the Atlantic shows up in the ponds near Cape May. This is an Eurasian wigeon.
Tags:
Barry Reed, Environment