“Eagle Over the Lighthouse.”
As opening lines to articles go, this one is not particularly original and it’s hardly unique. Truth is, visitors to the Cape May Point Hawkwatch get to hear this pronouncement with matter-of-fact regularity, along with variations like:
“Peregrine over the Bunker…Red-tail over the Pavilion…Northern Harrier RIGHT IN FRONT !!”
Cape May is many things for many people but for hundreds of thousands of birders from all over the world, from September through November, Cape May becomes synonymous with migrating hawks, eagles, and falcons - the raptorial stream of birds that makes Cape May, NJ Exit Zero on the Migration Mainline.
For no more than the price of gas (or lost tread on your bicycle tires) anyone can go to the Hawk Watch Platform at Cape May Point State Park and be treated to in-your-face views of some of nature’s more supreme creations. Approximately 50,000 birds of prey will be counted by Cape May Bird Observatory staff this fall. What you’ll see when you visit depends upon the date and the weather.
In September the skies over Cape May are ruled by the American Kestrel, a winsome falcon that weaves a path along the dunes and snatches dragonflies out of the air with nimble aplomb. Flights of several hundred a day are common place. You’ll have to be uncommonly lucky to approach the single day record for kestrels in Cape May (21,000 recorded in 1972).
September is also the month that sees the first large push of Bald Eagles, a bird whose numbers were once so depleted that in 1979 only six individuals were recorded all season. Now, on a good flight, observers have recorded that number in an hour.
October is the month that sees peak numbers. Small, feisty Sharp-shinned Hawks dominate (and if House Finch’s have anxiety dreams, they dream of Sharpies). Several thousand of these small woodland hawks are possible in a single day. In their midst are Peregrines, Cooper’s, Northern Harriers, and Merlins…
“Murder Inc.,” was the label applied to this subcompact falcon by Walter Friton, a one-time Cape May regular and retired fireman from the Bronx (except, of course, he pronounced it “Moi-duh“). In the late afternoons it is not uncommon to see a dozen or more Merlins perched within sight of the hawkwatch platform. The hours from 3:00-5:00 PM are known as “Merlin Time” - the hours when this tiny, dark, irascible speedster rules the skies (and makes life miserable for anything bold or stupid enough to take wing).
November is the month the big birds soar: burley Red-tailed Hawks, colorful Red-shouldered Hawks, starkly patterned Rough-legged Hawks and, everyone’s favorite, the Golden Eagle. When the winds are right the skies over Cape May are made animate with soaring raptors. The best time to catch the show is between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. That’s when the late season sun draws birds aloft and before these soaring hawks get so high that only a skilled hawk watcher might be able to find them.
You don’t need to be an accomplished hawk watcher to see (or even identify) birds of prey. Since 1976 the Cape May Bird Observatory, in cooperation with Cape May Point State Park, has conducted the annual Hawk Count. From the spacious vantage of the park’s observation platform, visitors can rely upon the skills of seasonal interpreters, funded by Leica Sports Optics, to help them locate the birds passing in review.
You will need binoculars to cut the distance and to bring you supernatural intimacy with soaring raptors. If you don’t have binoculars, the Cape May Bird Observatory carries New Jersey’s finest selection of high performance instruments and this is not a boast made lightly. Binoculars are the defining tool of hawk watching (and birding in general) and, while there are hundreds of makes and models, only a fraction work in the hawk watching arena. These are the ones you’ll find at the Cape May Bird Observatory, Northwood Center, in Cape May Point.
You may also want to pick up a guide to help you identify distant birds of prey (like Hawks in Flight) or understand the geographic and meteorological alchemy that makes Cape May Exit Zero on the Migration Mainline (like How Birds Migrate).
Or, you can keep reading. Here’s a synopsis:
Imagine an hourglass. The top is half filled with sand (that’s where the hawks are now); the bottom half is empty (that’s where the hawks are going). Ever notice how South Jersey is shaped like the top of an hour glass? Draw a line between Atlantic City and Philadelphia and what falls south of this line becomes a geographic funnel that catches and directs southbound birds of prey to it’s terminus: Exit Zero.
What happens now? That depends upon the species of hawk and the weather. On strong northwest winds (the winds that produce the greatest hawk flights) many birds elect not to cross Delaware Bay. Hawks don’t swim. If they miss Cape Henlopen, it’s a long way to Bermuda and most won’t make it. On northwest winds, most hawks turn north and fly up along Delaware Bay or sit and wait for better weather.
OK (you might be saying to yourself). So what? So Cape May is riddled with hawks. What of it?
My answer to that would probably be to draw on the oblique wisdom of Louie Armstrong and say: “If you’ve got to ask, you’ll never know.”
Except you do know.
Every notice how many professional football teams are named after birds of prey (including the Philadelphia franchise)? Ever notice how often birds of prey are used in advertising or are incorporated into the logos of businesses, clubs, even nations?
Hey. Reach into your wallet. Pull out a one dollar bill. See that critter with the olive branch in one talon and the arrows in the other? Guess what that is?
From politics, to mythology, to art, to poetry and literature, birds of prey have been a source of inspiration for our species. Maybe it’s their predatory prowess that ignites atavistic instincts. Maybe it’s their ability to vault great distances (an ability we equate with freedom) or their power of flight (or don’t you ever dream of flying?).
For whatever reason or reasons, birds of prey fire our imagination and engage our interest and curiosity. And here, in Cape May, New Jersey, residents have an opportunity that hundreds of thousands of geographically-challenged individuals covet.
For the next few weeks - go outside - head over to the Hawkwatch Platform at Cape May Point State Park - look up. And see the birds that Tennyson celebrated in verse, the Founding Fathers emblazoned on the nation’s seal, and the Philadelphia Eagles strive to emulate.
Bring sun block. Don’t forget your binoculars.
Click here to learn more about the Cape May Autumn Hawk Watch.
For information on Workshops and Programs see the Naturalist Calendar for details.