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Cape May in October
One of the country's most amazing birding festivals!
© Hope Mayer
Cape May Autumn Birding Festival, October 20 - 24, 2016!
Cape May lies on a peninsula at the southernmost tip of New Jersey, and it's one of the most famous birding destinations in the US. October may be the most exciting month of all to watch birds there. It's hawk migration! Because most birds prefer to migrate over land rather than open water, the peninsula funnels southbound birds, sometimes in astonishing numbers. One year, New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory counted more than 47,000 migrating hawks - including Red-shouldered Hawks, like this one. New Jersey Audubon hosts the festival.
BirdNote®
Cape May in October
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Atlantic and Sanderlings http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/3065]
If birding destinations on the continent were put to a vote, Cape May, New Jersey, would without question fly among the most famous. And many think October is the most exciting month of all to watch birds at Cape May, including migrating hawks.
[Atlantic waves and Red Tailed Hawk http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/51214]
Cape May lies at the southernmost tip of New Jersey, on a thumb-shaped peninsula that divides Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. [Atlantic waves] Because most birds prefer to migrate over land rather than open water, the peninsula funnels southbound birds, sometimes in astonishing numbers. [Large flock of Dunlin] Between September and November 2010, the Cape May Bird Observatory counted more than 47,000 migrating hawks. [Red-tailed Hawk] Some Octobers see more than 20,000 hawks passing through in a single day!
[Wind and waves]
New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Autumn Birding Festival offers a unique opportunity to brush elbows and binoculars with prominent birders – and to learn firsthand about bird migration at one of its most celebrated points of passage.
This year’s festival runs from the 20th through the 24th of October, and coincides with the migration of shorebirds, waterfowl, warblers, and of course raptors.
[Waves]
You can learn more about Cape May and other top birding spots in the country, on our website, BirdNote.org.
I’m Michael Stein.
[Sanderlings return http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/3065]
###
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Ithaca, New York. 3065 recorded by Randolph S. Little, 51214 recorded by L.J. Peyton.
Atlantic waves recorded by C. Peterson
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2012-2016 Tune In to Nature.org October 2016 Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# capemay-01-2012-10-25 capemay-01b
