Cape May Overnight with the SCSC Seasons Class – Day 1

Kids and nature are always a great combination! I have been going crazy with workshops, presentations, marketing and trip preparations so when my friend Paula requested my assistance with her students on an overnight trip to Cape May I accepted immediately.

The days before the Souderton Charter School overnight were rather uneventful migration-wise. The winds were wrong and the nights were clear. However, reports were promising for Friday. I headed down to Cape May early on Thursday morning to scout some butterfly locations and see what the hawks and songbirds were doing. Not much action anywhere.

The kids arrived around noon on Thursday and we enjoyed a couple hours at the Cape May Bird Observatory’s Goshen Center in the butterfly garden and meadow. However, the kids had raised some Monarch caterpillars, and several of the butterflies were ready to be released, as soon as they had tags! The tags the class used were from MonarchWatch.org and are easy to purchase and use while supporting their research.

The tag seen here on a Monarch just released, weighs less than .001 grams and will not hinder the Monarchs journey to the mountains of Mexico where it will spend the winter.

After a swim in the Atlantic Ocean, we arrived at the Seashore Campground to set up tents and make dinner. After dinner we all headed off to Sunset Beach to collect Cape May “Diamonds” in the waning light.

Throughout each activity, different kids recited informational dialogs of research they had been assigned before the overnight. From a history of the Concrete Ship, to how Cape May Diamonds are formed to what stars were in the sky over Cape May on that night, we learned a lot from their efforts.

Day 2 coming soon!