PA Young Birders Cape May Field Trip

On Saturday July 18th, the PA Young Birders Club met for a full-day bird outing along the Delaware Bayshore and Cape May are. Five kids and three adults joined me in exploring several birding hotspots to find 56 species on this lovely day. After some heavy weekend traffic, we arrived at Cape May Bird Observatory in Goshen, where we enjoyed separate flocks of Snowy Egret and Glossy Ibis, along with Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting, Osprey, Merlin, and other local species. A few miles farther south, we explored Reeds Beach Road, where several Black-crowned Night-Herons perched in the trees were a major delight for the group. At the end of the road, we had clear looks of many Double-Crested Cormorants sitting on the pilons, and American Oystercatchers on the far banks across the channel. After our picnic lunch at Cape May Point State Park, we scanned Bunker Pond to find Mute Swans, Forster’s Terns, Black Ducks, and Killdeer. We found our target Piping Plover in the next pond down from Bunker, along with several Least Terns and Black Vultures overhead. Colonies of Purple Martins were active near the State Park restrooms. Time flew quickly all day, but we squeezed in one last stop at Jake’s Landing, where we enjoyed great looks at Marsh Wren, Seaside Sparrow and Northern Harrier. We heard Clapper Rails “kak-kak-kaking” in the reeds. A good time was enjoyed by all.