cape may new jersey birding | Best Life Birding- Birdwatching Tours

By Sally Siko

Happy to spend a couple nice moments last month in Raleigh NC photographing migrating Cape May Warblers.
I love their cheerful bright yellow plumage and spunky personalities.
Though they tend to move quickly through the leaves I enjoy the challenge of trying to grab a few shots.

These lovely warblers were named for the county of Cape May, NJ where the species was first noted in scientific literature.  Sitting at the southern tip of New Jersey, bordering the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic, Cape May county is the premier destination for migrating birds along the east coast of the US.
It’s one of my favorite places to lead birding tours too!

Birding Tours at Cape May, NJ

There’s so much to see there warbler-wise that I think it’s pretty cool that there’s actually a species named for such a special place.   Though Cape May Warblers stop in NJ when traveling between their breeding & wintering grounds, they are hardly alone as hundreds of different bird species are found in Cape May county every year during each migration cycles. It seems like an odd name to give these beauties as it hardly describes any of the species unique characteristics.

Given the Cape May’s preference for nesting & feeding in conifer forests, perhaps a better name might be spruce warbler or maybe even tiger warbler since they sport those bold black stripes on it’s warm yellow breast.
 Moniker choice aside, these feathered gems are standout birds in my eyes and I’m always grateful to catch a glimpse of Cape May every autumn.
They’ll stick around NC for another couple weeks so if you’d like to catch a glimpse of one for yourself, get out there this week before they move on down south for the winter.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

-Sally Siko

Had an excellent time in Cape May New Jersey and was pleased to see a ton of birds in the area.
One of my favorite species finally gave me a good opportunity for photos, the Glossy Ibis.
Though we’ve got Glossy’s down here in NC, I’ve never managed to capture a good photograph of one until now.
It was thrilling to get to see these two up close as they waded through the shallow waters of the marsh at Cape May Meadows.

Here in North Carolina, the history of the Glossy Ibis tracks opposite of that of the more commonly found White Ibis.
A relatively new breeder to the state (first nest reports appeared in the 1940s) the numbers of Glossy Ibises have increased, becoming more widespread all the way through the 1970’s.
Yet unlike the White Ibis, their numbers have noticeably decreased in recent decades.
Part of the reason is that these lovely brown iridescent colored birds are generally pegged as the “lowest man on the totem pole” in terms of choice nesting sites in multi-species colonies of birds.
This means that they can get crowded out of colonies if the numbers of other species (White Ibis, Egrets and Herons) increase or the availability of nesting sites declines due to habitat loss.
Interestingly though, the decline of Glossy Ibises in North Carolina may also partly be attributed to a shift northward in the breeding population. Today their range has expanded to New York, New Jersey and all the way up into New England in recent decades which is pretty neat!

I am looking forward to returning to Cape May NJ to lead tours next spring!
If you’d like to join me to catch all of the migrating bird action, check out the link below.