A new field guide, a new novel by Dunne,
A birder would be happy with either one.
Perhaps a new sweatshirt, or warm fleece lined vest,

So many questions, but who would know best?

While sipping a latte and checking out Exit Zero,
I found the answer; I found my hero!
I grabbed my free copy, and rushed out the door,
Excited and eager to get to the store.

Straight down Sunset, a quick turn on Lighthouse,
For gifts for my birding friends, and even my spouse.
A hat, shirt, jacket, and tote.
Some jewelry, puzzles, and books that Dunne wrote.

So many choices, so many things
Did you know they even have toe rings!

With knowledgeable staff who are eager to help
You won’t have to spend hours scanning the shelves.

Get your list ready, there’s no need to worry
Just head on down to the Cape May Bird Observatory.

With best wishes for the happiest of holidays from all the staff of the Cape May Bird Observatory !

The Cape May Bird Observatory is THE place for anything to do with nature.  CMBO (609.884.2736) is located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking lovely Lake Lily in Cape May Point and is open 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM every day – except Tuesdays for your shopping pleasure.  We will be closed beginning Christmas Eve (12/24) through New Years Day (1/1).  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise – including our exclusive CMBO logo jewelry, clothing, jackets, hats, and scarves.  Too much to choose from – or just not sure?  Gift certificates are available in any denomination – or perhaps a gift membership – or a packet of 10 walk tickets.  You can pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  And if you aren’t fortunate enough to be in the area, visit our website where birding Cape May is only a click away.  Or call us at 609.884.2736, we’re glad to do mail orders, too!

Ivory Gull by Dan Haas

I guess you know all about the Ivory Gull, right? It’s the biggest thing to hit Cape May since….

Well since the last new bird for the county showed up.

If you didn’t know that a juvenile Ivory Gull has been haunting Cape May Harbor then you were undoubtedly puzzled by the sudden appearance of about 1,000 birders over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and are still showing up and coming from as far as Oklahoma, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and a guy who drove all night from West Virginia to see the bird.

The white gull with black trim was discovered on Friday, November 27th (by local birder Jim Dowdell). It was reported via all the current internet gadgetry, telephone service (and even word of mouth). Faster than you can say Pagophila eburnea the harbor was ringed by ivory hunters.

When the bird was found again, Saturday morning it precipitated a near human tidal wave of gull aspirants and bird photographers.

I met one photographer who admitted to having taken over 3,000 images of the bird.

Yes. The bird is that obliging.

Yes. The bird is that special.

What makes an Ivory Gull so special?

Well…for one thing they are pretty delicate (for gulls). If you are familiar with gulls, it’s about the size of a Ring-billed Gull.

Also, it is somewhat restricted in its habitat. They breed in the islands of the Canadian Archipelago. Most spend the winter at the edge of the arctic ice cap cleaning up the mess left by polar bears who murder seals for a living (this excludes very, very few bears by the way).

Every so often an Ivory Gull wanders south of the ice cap.

Never has one turned up in Cape May.

One of the other things that makes this bird so desirable is that like many birds and animals whose lives are bonded to an arctic maritime existence, Ivory Gulls are declining. Like polar bears, the gulls are wedded to ice. As ice goes, so goes ice-wedded critters.

Me? Never seen one before (and it’s not for lack of trying).

One of the places birders go to try and see Ivory Gulls is St. Lawrence Island. St. Lawrence is tucked between Alaska and Siberia (but on the Alaskan side of the date line).

Unlike Sarah Palin’s home town of Wasilla, Alaska, you really can see the cliffs of Siberia from Gambel, an native village on the northern end of the island.

I know. I’ve been there. Twice.

Never saw an Ivory Gull.

So driven was I to see an Ivory Gull, I even traveled to Baffin Island. Baffin Island is about as far north as you go before you run out of land. There, every spring (meaning June), Ivory Gulls migrate along the edge of the receding ice cap. The way to get out to the edge of the Ice Cap is to hire native hunters to tow you out on snowmobile-towed sleds.

So we went out. Spent three days on the edge of the ice.

Saw walrus. Saw narwal. Saw polar bear. Saw a million birds.

Saw no Ivory Gull.

So when the call came in on Friday, I was in North Jersey. Linda and I were among the several hundred who kept their fingers crossed and saw the bird on Saturday.

Great bird. Glad it’s staying around. Glad it’s stripper season and it’s got some nice tidbits to feed on. Be neat to have Ivory Gull on the Christmas Bird Count (Dec 13).

If you don’t want to go out and see the Ivory Gull for yourself, and I just couldn’t conjure up a reason why you wouldn’t, you can see photos of it on this website under Recent Sightings and there are some great photos by Atlantic City Press Photographer, Dale Gerhard, on their website at

http://pressofac.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=26979019&event=900232&CategoryID=7628

Or you can head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory’s Northwood Center overlooking Lake Lily at 701 East Lake Drive in Cape May Point where they have some printed photos, up-to-date sightings, and anything else you may need. If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help.

While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise – including our exclusive CMBO logo jewelry, and clothing. Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around. And if you aren’t fortunate enough to be in the area, visit us online www.BirdCapeMay.org – where birding Cape May is only a click away. Or call us at 609.884.2736, we’re glad to do mail orders, too!

You’ve been screwing this endeavor up for years.  Always buying your birding acquaintances stuff that they can hardly wait to build a garage sale around.

Clocks that give bird calls on the hour.  Ties festooned with an impossible assortment of unidentifiable warblers, sparrows, and birds of paradise all perched at the feeder in the snow.    Books so large they defy an average coffee table to hold them and that are filled with photos of birds the average birder will never see.

Hint to non-birders.  Giving your average birder a book on the birds of Borneo is a little like giving someone the ticket stubs to the Rolling Stones concert they didn’t get to see.

It’s not your fault.  You want to do right by your friends.  You just aren’t a birder and you don’t know what birders really want.

Okay – here it is.  The solution to your problem.

Here are several suggestions that are sure to put a smile on the faces your birding friends.

#1) David Sibley’s new book, The Sibley Guide to Trees
I know.  It’s not about birds.  But birds sit in trees and people are always trying to get other people on to birds by saying things like: “It’s in the right side of the red maple” or “look at the left most branch of the hackberry.”  

Even people who don’t like birds will like this book because, well…after all…who doesn’t like trees?  Cost is under $40.  Of course, if you are a CMBO member, there’s a discount if you buy the book at the Northwood Center in Cape May Point.  Speaking of which.

#2) Annual Membership in the Cape May Bird Observatory
Cut that special friend in on some very special programs and events.  CMBO membership opens the door to a year’s worth of birding experiences (not to mention discounts on everything they purchase – including the walks they go on!).  If they bird Cape May, they deserve to be CMBO members.  Membership also grants access to the Rea Farm birding area (which is private private and off-limits to anyone who is not a member of CMBO or NJA – and if you have to ask what CMBO or NJA is, then more than likely you’re not a member).

#3)  Registration to A Birding Workshop (through CMBO, of course)
Most birders want to become more skilled birders.  CMBO offers one, two and three day birding workshops all year round that are specialized for different groups of hard to identify species.  The programs are so highly regarded, Nikon Sports Optics sponsors it – the Cape May School of Birding.  Stop by CMBO for a workshop brochure or go to our website for details.

#4)  An autographed book by one of the local birding luminaries
Cape May is riddled with talented birders and authors and CMBO has autographed copies of The Shorebird Guide by Michael O’Brien, Richard Crossley, and Kevin Karlson and Birds and Birding at Cape May by Pat and Clay Sutton would find a welcome place in the libraries of your favorite birder (and make you their favorite gift giver).  (We also have signed books by that other author, Pete Dunne).

#5)  Jewelry – Not just any jewelry but exclusive CMBO Logo Jewelry
Yes, we have created our own jewelry line available in brushed gold tone or silver tone.  We have earrings (post and dangle), anklets, bracelets, and pendants (all on a leather cord), toe rings, pins (can be used a tie pins, lapel pins, or hat pins), key chains, and caribiners.  All available exclusively at CMBO’s Northwood Center, and all priced under $20.

#6.  New binoculars or a spotting scope
Sure you’d love to give that special person a new Lexus or Range Rover.  The person who says, at just about every opportunity: “Oh, my I just cannot imagine anyone wanting to drive anything so expensive.  My little putt-putt is doing just fine.”   Uh-huh.  If you can’t spring for a luxury car, how about the Lexus or Range Rover of optics?  Every new birder wants the latest and greatest in optics (even when they say they don’t).  Stop by CMBO.  Ask the store people about the instruments that would turn average birders into envied birders.  There’s more than one make and model and a range of prices.  

If you care to gift wrap those binoculars or spotting scope in a Range Rover or Lexus, they’d probably keep the wrapper, too.

If you are ready to start doing some shopping for gifts or for yourself, just head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – THE place for anything to do with nature.  CMBO (609.884.2736) is located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking lovely Lake Lily in Cape May Point and is open 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM every day – except Tuesdays (we’re closed on Tuesdays) for your shopping pleasure.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise – including our exclusive CMBO logo jewelry and clothing.  Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  And if you aren’t fortunate enough to be in the area, just visit us online www.BirdCapeMay.org – where birding Cape May is only a click away.  Or call us at 609.884.2736, we’re glad to do mail orders, too!

     I’m not a dead flicker expert but few enough people are.

     What’s a flicker? 

Northern Flicker (in its normal habitat) by Stephan Hoeck

     Oh.  Right.  Sorry.  A flicker is a magnum sized woodpecker.  Properly called Northern Flicker by birders, Colaptes auratus by ornithologists, “FLICKER!” by people standing on the Hawk Watch platform at Cape May Point State Park when one of the large, golden winged birds goes rocketing by.  Flickers are common breeding birds of park habitat and open, broken woodlands.

     Then what were the birds doing on a beach? 

     Nothing.  They were dead.  Death affects flickers in much the same way it does other creatures.  Even a non-flicker expert like yourself should know that. 

     Anyway, she was disturbed by the number of dead flickers she’s found washed up on the beach.  She wanted to know why so many had chosen to die there.

     Ahhh.  Like most problems, this one was based on a misrepresentation. 

     In truth and in fact the birds didn’t choose to die there.  They chose to die at sea.  They flew out over the ocean, probably jumping off from New England or Long Island.  Ran out of gas.  Drowned.  The currents and waves ferried them onto the beach where they joined the natural and unnatural flotsam on the beach.

     Okay – bad choice of words – they probably didn’t chose to die.  They were brought by circumstances to meet an untimely death.

     Okay – another bad choice of words – they don’t run on petroleum distillates.  Their “fuel” is actually the fat that the birds store.  I was taking literary license.  But the scientific truth is that the foundation of the energy in fat, and gasoline, is the same carbon to carbon atom bond whose energetic source is the sun.

     The birds were migrating.

     They went offshore on a good tail wind. 

     They got tired.  They got to realizing that it was a long way until they reached land. 

     They turned into the wind.  Then they lost speed, lost headway and eventually, ran out of fuel.  Ditched.  Drowned.

     Happens to millions and millions of birds every year.

     The reason this person was finding lots of flickers was threefold. 

     First, flickers are common.

     Second, they are migrating now.

     Third, being large birds, they don’t get purred by the waves before they get washed up on shore.  They are largely intact so they are identifiable by live flicker experts. 

     Most of the smaller songbirds (and most flickers for that matter) just go into the old briny and become part of the detritus in the ocean which, in a couple thousand years, might be converted by heat and pressure into oil deposits.

     But by that time we’ll all be using ethanol.

     You’re stuck on that millions and millions of birds disclosure, aren’t you?

     Yep.  Every year, countless millions of birds fly offshore and drown.  About 90% of all birds born in any year fail to live long enough to breed.  Fall migration is the first big cut in the ranks.

     You don’t have to be a dead flicker expert to appreciate this; the fact that being a bird is one great big colossal challenge.

     Yep.  It’s one of the reasons so many people are bird watchers.  Every bird they see comes pretty close to a miracle. 

     One that replicates itself every morning the bird wakes to see the dawn.

     So why not stop what you are doing now, and go outside and appreciate a miracle or two.

Nature is full of miracles and challenges every day so don’t wait another day to partake of it.  Head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – THE place for all your nature needs.  CMBO (609.884.2736) is located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking lovely Lake Lily in Cape May Point and is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake, and hopefully the swans, from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise.  Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view.  If you can’t make it in person, visit our website – where birding Cape May is only a click away!

There’s a saying among devout outdoor recreationists:  there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. Within limits, this is true.  Many pages could be written about how to dress for warmth in foul conditions, but here are a half dozen essential principles to keep in mind.

 1.  The base layer is more important than what you put on top of it.  The base layer is the one next to your skin, a.k.a your “thermal underwear,” and performs two critical functions.  First, it creates a layer of warmed air next to your skin that cold has a hard time penetrating, or more accurately, makes it harder for warmth to depart your body.  Second (if it’s the right stuff), it will “wick” moisture away from your skin. To do this, it must fit snugly (not tightly), must be of a moisture wicking material (NOT cotton or wool), and must be of a weight befitting the conditions.  Different brands use different ratings according to warmth, typically along the lines of light, medium, and heavy or expedition weight.  The expedition weight stuff is tempting, and that’s what I wear in extreme conditions (mine is sold under the brand name of MTP by Cabela’s), but most of the time it’s too warm. You can always put more clothes on top, because. . .

 2.  If two layers are good, five are better.  Most people are familiar with the concept of layering clothing, which leaves you flexible as conditions change.  Layers also trap air, and air is a poor conductor of heat away from your body.  When it’s really cold  I have  five or six layers on my upper body – for example, two of the Cabela’s MTP underwear (the second one a turtleneck), then a fleece sweater by Mountain Hardwear, then a fleece jacket by The North Face that zips to my chin, then a lightweight, incredibly warm Micropuff jacket by Patagonia.  Pay attention to layering down as well as up.  For example, take a bunch of stuff off if you are going into a restaurant or for an extended drive.  Moisture-wicking base layers are great, but have limits, and if you bead up with sweat, you will wind up with damp inner garments.  When that happens, nothing short of doing jumping jacks continuously can keep you warm then.

 3.  Keep your head and neck covered.  Wear an inner layering garment like a turtleneck or fleece jacket that zips up to your chin.  Then carefully place a fleece neck gaiter over the neck-covering garment but under your outer jacket to seal off all heat loss through the neck opening in your clothes.  A properly worn neck gaiter adds a good 10 degrees of warmth.  Wear a heavy wool or fleece cap – if it’s windy, choose a cap with some kind of wind protection material.  Consider wearing two hats, one right over the other.

 4.  Warm hands.  Wear Gore-tex lined, Thinsulate-insulated gloves with a wicking inner liner.  If your hands always get cold, drop a disposable handwarmer in each glove. Make sure your sleeves are not too tight, just snug enough to keep drafts out.  Otherwise you will lose circulation to your hands, something you do not want to happen.

 5.  Warm feet.  The base layer is important here, too.  I generally opt for heavy wool-synthetic blended socks that wick moisture (mine are sold under the brand name Ultimax). Plain wool socks seem never to conform properly to feet.  For boots, insulated leather boots are great for dry conditions, insulated pac-boots with rubber bottoms are the way to go if it is cold and wet.  Leg gaiters add a lot of warmth, so I often wear them even if there is no snow.  Foot gear must not be tight – you are better off with lighter socks than heavy socks if they make your boots too tight.  I don’t often need them, but when I do, disposable foot warmers make all the difference on super-cold days.  I use a brand called “Toasty-toes,” which are designed to stick lightly under your toes.  I wear them on top of the toes, which is much more comfortable.

 6.  Buy less, but buy good stuff.  As a general rule, I tend to look at what rock climbers, alpinists, backpackers, whitewater boaters, and similar ultra-intense outdoor enthusiasts are using for gear.  These folks are not shopping at big box stores.  Brands I regard highly include Patagonia, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, The North Face, Outdoor Research, REI, Eastern Mountain Sports, and Cabela’s. Good gear is expensive, initially – but it works, it lasts, and some companies have extended or unconditional warranties.

     “They’re swans,” the birder said to the non-birder, losing what scant interest they had in the non-birders inquiry.

     “They’re beautiful,” the non-birder sighed, assuming that this display of admiration would endear her to all the birders standing around her.  She couldn’t have been more mistaken.

     “They don’t belong here,” one birder gnarled.

     “Damn swans,” another chimed.

     Most of the other birders present said nothing but their sentiments were similar to those just expressed.  Non-birders love swans.  Birders pretty universally disdain them.

     Mute swans, anyway.  The European imports that muscle their way onto ponds and chase other ducks, geese, and native swans away.

     Mute swans by the way, are the ones that breed locally.

     Okay, I’ll admit it.  Mute Swans are beautiful.  Go ahead and growl at me. 

     But like most birders, I side with those who wish that they weren’t here. 

     Except on the World Series of Birding, of course.  On that day, a Mute Swan is a good as Northern Goshawk is as good as a Golden-wined Warbler is as good as a European Starling.

     Mute Swans were brought North America to grace ornamental ponds.  Then they became feral.  They proliferated.  They now spend their lives monopolizing aquatic plants eaten by native species and chasing competitors off “their ponds.”  Competitors being any other species that isn’t a Mute Swan.

      Mute Swans have a dinner table reach.  They can reach the aquatic plants first and they have enough bulk to defend “their” ponds even from native swans that used to winter here.

     They don’t winter here because Cape May’s large and established population of Mute Swans drive them out.

Mute Swans by Stephan Hoeck

     Still, Mute Swans are beautiful.

     You see a Mute Swan you fairly hear the strains of the Blue Danube playing in the background.

      I have a neighbor who is not a birder.  I told her I could show her a Bald Eagle.

      “No way,” she said.  A typical non-birder answer.

     “Way,” I replied.  “Get in the car.”

     We drove to an impoundment that is infested with eagles. 

     “There’s an eagle over….”

     I never got to finish that sentence.

     “OHMYGODWHATISTHAT?” my non-birding neighbor fairly screamed.

     “What?  Oh that – that’s a swan.  Now the eagle is….”

     “OHMYGODITSBEAUTIFUL.”

     “Yeah.  Well, if you look in my spotting scope you’ll see a white spot set against the distant wall of trees, that’s the ea…”

     She grabbed my spotting scope and after five fumbling minutes managed to focus it on the flotilla of swans.  The look on her face was pure rapture.

      There is something seriously wrong with the world when a lumbering, long-necked bully with feather duster shaped wings trumps an eagle.

      Still, I’ve got to admit – they are beautiful.  Certainly more beautiful than an eagle perched a half mile away.

     Eh.  Different strokes for different folks.  If everyone was supposed to like the same bird, there wouldn’t be 800 or so species in North America. 

     But if it was left to Mute Swans, there would be precisely one.

If it’s Mute Swans you want to see, then head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – THE place for all your nature needs.  CMBO is located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking lovely Lake Lily (which has more than it’s fair share of Mute Swans) in Cape May Point.  The center  (609.884.2736), is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake, and hopefully the swans, from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise.  Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view.  If you can’t make it in person, visit  us online – where birding Cape May is only a click away!

     You are wondering why people watch birds.

     Okay, maybe you didn’t wonder before you read that line.  But you are now.

     Power of suggestion.

     So repeat after me:

     “I wonder why it is that people watch birds?” 

     Off to a good start.  Continue.

     “I mean…what’s the fascination?  You can’t bet on them.  You can’t eat them.  They don’t roar around in circles for 500 laps.  Don’t have thirty million dollar contracts to do something with a ball once a week.

     Like move it across a line…make it disappear into a hole…make it go over, or through, a net.

Engaging stuff like that.

     So…why would millions of people want to do it?

     There!  You’ve put your finger on it.  How could so many people ignore the engaging (but contrived) joys of life to just look at something real, natural, colorful, vocal, animate, and not even assured.

     You go to the theater to see the latest blockbuster (the one the critics hate but audiences love), and of course, it’s there.

     You go to Cape May Point State Park to see a Loggerhead Shrike (yes, that’s a bird) and they tell you – sorry, you shoulda been here yesterday.  Bird’s gone.

      Of course that’s today.  Maybe you should have been here tomorrow.  No that’s not mistated.  Chances are the shrike won’t be back.  But since this is Cape May, something equally rare stands a good chance of turning up tomorrow.

     Oh. Then bird watching is a bit like gambling?

     Well, yes.  I guess.  A little.  You never know when something rare will appear; whether you are going to have an average day at the table or win the birding jackpot.

     But you still can’t eat them!  Except for game birds.  However, my old mentor’s favorite expression, usually expressed while we were looking at some avian spectacle – like 60,000 swallows all spiraling around or waves of Bobolink passing overhead or half a dozen Bald Eagles chasing each other all over the sky – was:

     “Drink this up.”

     So, I guess you can drink birds.  At least you can drink up the experience.

     As for sports…well, there you are.  Birds don’t play sports.  When a Peregrine spends fifteen minutes chasing a Lesser Yellowlegs all over the sky (and in front of fifty awe-struck birders), it’s more serious than a game.

     Plenty serious for the Yellowlegs.

     But birds absolutely have nothing to do with balls!  In fact I’ve never even heard of a bird playing ball.  Eggs?  Well, I guess if a football counts as ball then an object pinched at just one end (like an egg) qualifies, too.  Times when people used to collect bird eggs.  It was very fashionable back in the Victorian period (a theme that plays real good in Cape May).

     But they put a stop to egg collecting about a century ago.  Anything to do with birds has been dull ever since.

      I mean, at least eggs just sit there where they can be appreciated.  Birds fly away.  Now you see them.  Now you don’t.

     Like life.

     And you know how boring that is.

Whether you are into sports, gambling, or are just plain curious – then head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – see why it’s THE place to come for all your nature needs.  CMBO located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking Lake Lily in Cape May Point (609.884.2736), is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise.  Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view.  If you can’t make it in person, just go to our website  – where birding Cape May is only a click away!

Seymore Thanu is none other than New Jersey’s own Pete Dunne, Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory and Vice President of Natural History for New Jersey Audubon Society.  Author of several books on and about nature (available at the Cape May Bird Observatory), he has written  for virtually every birding publication and for the New York Times.

     Hi.  We met the other day.  I was birding in Cape May Point State Park.  You were walking around, in the rain, with what I judge to be your seven (or so) year old son whose name was Boris.
     I didn’t get your name.  My loss. 
     Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with the two of you; you most of all.  I was impressed that you found the time to take your son around to see birds.  The weather was stinky.  You could easily have said: “Hoh kay, Boris.  Is raining now.  We should go to breakfast”   But you didn’t.  In fact, you stayed out longer than I would have.
     By the way, Boris is one poised young man.  Whether he takes up birding or not, he’s still going to go pretty far in life.
     I’m rambling.
     Now the reason I’m writing is twofold.  First, to say I sure wished I had a mom like you when I was a wee little Thanu.  See when I was a kid, bird watching was just the opposite of cool.  In fact, if you knew what was good for you, you didn’t even mention the fact that you watched birds.
     Mom and dad Thanu would much rather that I was playing baseball or basketball or something.  They didn’t encourage me.  I can’t even imagine my mom walking around in the rain with me holding binoculars and trying to get looks at gulls.  
     It would probably be different now.  If I was growing up today, my parents would be frantic to pry me away from the computer and get me to go birding. 
     That brings up the next reason I’m writing.  The binoculars that Boris was using, the old Zeiss Jenas.  They aren’t doing him any favors.  They’re too big for his hands.  The optical quality isn’t there.
     He needs new binoculars.  You don’t need to buy something expensive.  There’s binoculars for around $12000 that will do just fine.  In fact, they are built for young eyes and hands.
     He also needs a field guide.  I mentioned the Kenn Kaufman Guide but figured the name wouldn’t stick so I’m going to put it in this letter and hope you get a copy.
     It’s called Field Guide To Birds Of North America.
     Great book; he’s going to love it.
     Now here’s the thing.  That place I mentioned.  Cape May Bird Observatory.  They actually have this program called Take A Kid Birding®.  They actually sell the binoculars and the field guide plus a book on how to watch birds called Pete Dunne On Bird Watching, all wrapped up in a nice package for $120.
     If Boris has a birthday coming up, you might want to keep it in mind.
     That’s all.  If I’d seen you again, I would have mentioned all these things. 
     So if you happen to be a reader of Exit Zero here’s all the stuff I would have told you.  Or if any readers out there happen to know Boris’s mom could you please tell her about the books and the binocular deal.
      Probably mean a lot to Boris.  I know for a fact that those Jena binoculars he was using weren’t waterproof.       

Take A Kid Birding - Never too Young to Start

If you have a little Boris in your life (or not), you too can get the Take A Kid Birding® package.  Head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – see why it’s THE place to come for all your nature needs.  CMBO located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking Lake Lily in Cape May Point (609.884.2736), is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise.  Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view. If you can’t make it in person, just go to our website where birding Cape May is only a click away!

If you’d like to learn more about the birding in Cape May, as part of Cape May’s 400th Anniversary Celebration, you are invited to join Pete Dunne for a FREE presentation on the History of Birding from 10 AM to 11 AM on Wednesday, September 23 at the Interpretive Classroom in Cape May Point State Park.

Adult Bald Eagle

So I was sitting in the barber chair getting…

Maybe I’m being a bit lame with that statement.  Is there anybody on the planet that doesn’t know why a guy is sitting in a barber chair, in a barber

shop, being ministered to by the hands of a barber?  …and conversation had already run through the weather, sports, and politics.  We were just about ready to move on to lawn care and best new barbeque sauce to try when I mentioned, casually, “saw about ten eagles at the Cape May Point State Park Hawk Watch yesterday.”

What my barber disclosed, next, almost cost me an ear.

“You know.  I’ve never seen an eagle.”

NEVER SEEN AN EAGLE?!

That’s impossible – especially living in Cape May, the raptor capital of North America.  You’d have to be blind, drunk, dead and three days buried not to have seen an eagle.  There are kids in their second trimesters that have seen eagles.  My dog has seen eagles (and he doesn’t even look up).

“You ever been to the Hawk Watch?” I asked.

“No,” he answered.  “You want it up over the ears?”

“Please.”  Well, that explained it.  I could see how a person who lives in Cape May has never seen an eagle if they’ve never been to the Hawk Watch.  Or if they hadn’t been to the Hawk Watch in, oh say, twenty years.  There was a time when seeing a Bald Eagle in Cape May was pretty unusual.  Back in the late 70s, there were sometimes less than ten eagles seen during an entire hawk watching season (September through November).

Now, you can see that many in a single day. Heck, on September 1st, there were five eagles (two adults and three young birds) all chasing each other around over Cape May.  Even the tourists got to see it!

Don’t tell me that you are going to call yourself a Cape May resident and go through life not even enjoying the spectacles that the tourists gape at.   What would your children think?  Your dog?  Your barber?

Cape May Hawk Watch

Fact is, not only are there lots of migrating eagles coming through Cape May now, there are even a couple of birds that have taken a liking to the area.   Yep.  Two adult Bald Eagles have decided they like Cape Island and have made themselves at home.

One of the best places to see them is from the Hawk Watch. 

What do you need?  Binoculars.  Eagles aren’t drive up entertainment.  They’ve got wings.  They fly.  They are usually flying high enough that binoculars come in very handy (unless you want your first Bald Eagle to be a little speck in the sky that somebody tells you is a Bald Eagle.).

If you don’t have binoculars, there’s a whole group of seasonal interpreters who can loan you one and if you are really lucky, they might have their spotting scope trained on the bird (and you’ll even be able to identity the species of fish it’s carrying).  Or trying to steal.  Eagles don’t mind letting the Osprey catch the fish; they accept them as tribute.

Osprey?  Uh huh.  Osprey, too.  And Cooper’s Hawks, and Peregrines and Red-tailed Hawks and Broad-wingeds and Northern Harriers and American Kestrels and Merlins, and these are just the hawks seen on the first day of the count last week, September 1st .  Saying nothing about all the other thousands of birds that were flying every-which-way that day.

It’s fall in Cape May.  Fall means birds.

So, if you are like my barber and have never seen a Bald Eagle, maybe it’s about time you got yourself over to the Hawk Watch. 

Course, maybe I’m presuming too much.  Maybe you aren’t interested in seeing one of the most magnificent birds of North America soaring in a clear, blue Cape May sky. 

Maybe I’m being a bit lame with that statement, too.

Cape May Bird Observatory’s annual Cape May Hawk Watch runs from September to mid-December.  Head on over to Cape May Point State Park, look for the large raised double-tiered platform to the east of the parking lot, walk up the ramp and that’s where you’ll find Cape May’s Hawk Counter, Pete Dunne, and the seasons Interpretive Naturalists. 

If you’d like to learn more about the birding in Cape May, as part of Cape May’s 400th Anniversary Celebration, you are invited to join Pete Dunne for a FREE presentation on the History of Birding from 10 AM to 11 AM on Wednesday, September 23 at the Interpretive Classroom in Cape May Point State Park.

If you’d like to find out more information about what birding activities are happening now and throughout the year, just stop by the Cape May Bird Observatory – see why it’s THE place to come for all your nature needs.  CMBO, located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking Lake Lily in Cape May Point (609.884.2736), is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet.  While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, and some great new merchandise and the latest in books, pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, or pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around.  Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view. 

If you can’t make it in person, just go to our website where birding Cape May is only a click away!

Pete Dunne 1976 - The first Cape May Hawk Watch Platform

You’re not going to believe this but their letting Rip Van Hawk Watcher conduct the Hawk Count at Cape May Point this year.

Who?

The Director. The guy who used to sit on the life guard chair and back when eight track tapes were still on the shelf, Jimmy Carter was in the White House, and gas was 34 cents a gallon.

Well, what the hay. Bell bottoms are back. Why not a Hawk Counter that’s one step ahead of trifocals?

I realize that this defies all logic. Appointing a guy whose ability to identify hawks was forged at an age when the separation of Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks in the field was being hotly debated and vultures were considered birds of prey and Northern Harriers were called Marsh Hawks.

I’m only speculating here but chances are the old fossil was exhumed from his desk because he works cheap. Back in 1976, when he first climbed up on a hand-made table and started driving his eyes to an early demise, he was making less than fifty cents an hour.

Good money for doing nothing but standing there.

Guess they figure the guys already on the CMBO dole. Might as well have him warm the bench at the Hawk Watch, than his cushy office chair.

Speaking of bench…

Thirty years! It’s been over thirty years since this guy held a position of responsibility (because, after all, keeping accurate tabs on the hawks passing through Cape May is tantamount to a sacred duty).

David Sibley counted hawks here. Frank (old “Hamburger Eyes”) Nicoletti, and Jerry Liguori, and even Roger Tory Peterson.

Course, you have to go back a-ways to catch up with RTP’s one year stint. Back when hawks were being shot for target practice along Sunset Boulevard and Cape May wasn’t even a bump on the bird watching map.

All I can say is that the Director sure has his work cut out for him. Dragging his arthritic butt up the handicap ramp five days a week – Friday through Tuesday.

Cooking his age enfeebled brain for ten hours a day. Trying to keep up with all the young hawk watching Turks who would just love to beat the Geritol Kid to the draw.

Sad actually, when you run across something like this. Makes you think of A Death in Venice. Makes you wonder whether the hot, Leica optics he’s using can offset a thirty year drain on visual acuity.

Of course, we should all go out and support the guy. Offer encouragement. Point out a Peregrine or two.

And it’ll be something to tell your grand kids about. Imagine, going out and raising binoculars next to the hawk watching equivalent of the Gutenberg Press or a full service gas station (the kind where they would wash the windshield without being asked, and smile while they did it).

Cape May Hawk Watch Platform 1980

Yep. Times sure have changed.

One thing hasn’t. That’s the hawk flight in Cape May. It’s still one of the greatest spectacles on earth. And for one year, and one year only, you cannot only watch a great natural spectacle but watch a retread hawk watcher make a spectacle of himself.

Two spectacles for the price of one. And the price is FREE.

Can’t beat that!

Cape May Hawk Watch Platform 2008

The Cape May Bird Observatory’s annual Cape May Hawk Watch begins on Tuesday, September 1st. Head on over to Cape May Point State Park, look for the large raised double-tiered platform to the east of the parking lot, that’s where you’ll find, 33 years later, Cape May’s original Hawk Counter, Pete Dunne. He takes his coffee black, prefers Diet Coke, and has a passion for Cinnabon.

Then head over to the Cape May Bird Observatory – see why it’s THE place to come for all your nature needs. CMBO located at 701 East Lake Drive overlooking Lake Lily in Cape May Point (609.884.2736), is open every day 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. If you have any questions at all, ask any of our staff or volunteers – they are always glad to help with anything you need – even things you didn’t know you needed yet. While there, check out the view of the lake from the wide selection of scopes and binoculars, the latest in books, and some great new and fun merchandise. Pick up a schedule of daily walks and programs for the season, take a look at the sightings log to check what’s being seen, scan the bookshelves, pick up a bargain from the used and vintage books section, look at some of the wonderful Charley Harper merchandise, or just browse around. Sit outside on our garden benches and enjoy the birds and the view. If you can’t make it in person, just go to our website where birding Cape May is only a click away!