V20 N39

Bird Droppings
Dispatches from the nation’s birdwatching capital… by Seymore Thanu
The year was 1946. The war and all
its belt-tightening privations were
over. Gas rationing was a thing of
the past and America’s civilians and
recently decommissioned men and
women in uniform were ready to get back to
pre-war pleasures. It was the year the New
Jersey Audubon Society hosted their first bird
watching convention in Cape May. Already
famous as a bird-watching destination,
North America’s first bird-watching festival
cemented the Cape’s fame. Featuring famed
guest presenters and a suite of field trips, the
“Cape May Autumn Weekend” has become an
annual tradition that now attracts hundreds
of birders from around the country and across
the pond, as well as artists and vendors that
cater to North America’s second most popular
outdoor activity. Yes, bird watching.
Back when I was actively involved in
the event, the weekend was held in early
September. But changing migration patterns
prompted me to switch the dates from
September to late October when migrating
birds were more abundant and dependable.
So, Cape May’s tourist season was extended
by weeks as more birders planned their visits
later in the fall. A few attendees were miffed
about the change, lamenting that it compromised
beach time for non-birding spouses,
but the greater wealth of migrating birds later
in the season was ample compensation and
it opened the doors to a local bird-watching
season that now extends into December
While bird watchers are drawn from
across the socio-economic strata, a high percentage
of North America’s 45,000 avid bird
watchers come from the ranks of “professionals.”
Physicians and teachers. Best of all, the
ranks of birders are being filled with young
birders whose parents are obliged to drive
them to Cape May for their glorious weekend
immersion at “the migration mainline.”
On the hawk watch platform this past
week I met birders from England, Germany
and, at times, Australia. Australian visitors
don’t come to Cape May to lie on our beaches.
In the eyes of the planet’s millions of birders,
Cape May is as much an ecotourist destination
as Costa Rica and East Africa.
What’s more, the birding season runs
right through the winter months. Birds like
Great Cormorant and Purple Sandpiper are
not found on the west coast or in America’s
interior, but in Cape May, making it 12-month
bird-watching destination. If you are a birder
living in Toronto, Canada, birding Cape May
in February is like visiting the tropics.
November 3, 2022 EXIT ZERO Page 31