Bird Festival Back in Business One Year After Sandy

CAPE MAY- There were birds and binoculars in droves in Cape May on Oct. 26 and 27, but what had everyone talking was what wasn’t there: a hurricane.
Last year’s 66th annual Cape May Birding Festival was its first time in the new Cape May Convention Hall. But after Friday’s opening session, most people were leaving on Saturday, ahead of the mandatory evacuation that began Sunday. Hurricane Sandy arrived on Monday.
For this year’s 67th festival, the weather couldn’t have been better. “It’s been great not to have a storm,” said Sheila Lego, Marketing Director for the Cape May Bird Observatory. “People are so jazzed. It’s contagious!”
More than 500 birders from seven countries attended the festival commonly called “the Bird Show,” according to Lego. They packed the Hawk Watch platform at Cape May Point State Park, looked for seabirds from the deck of the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, and took side trips to hotspots like the Avalon Seawatch, Cox Hall Creek, Higbees Beach, and Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Experts presented seminars on a variety of topics, including sparrow identification, hawk banding, photographing small objects like butterflies, and using the latest digital cameras to photograph large objects like eagles.
Inside the convention center, vendors kept busy talking to a steady stream of visitors. Louise Zemaitis, West Cape May, took shifts covering the Victor Emanuel Nature Tour booth, promoting birding trips to Papua New Guinea, the Lesser Antilles, and Japan. She faced stiff competition from ecotour operators trying to entice birders to visit Texas, Cuba or an eco-resort in Honduras.
Matt Young came from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY, to pitch the latest in technology. While talking about citizen science programs like Project FeederWatch and eBird, he also wanted birders to download the new Guide to Bird Sounds. With the sounds of more than 5,000 bird species available at the click of a mouse, Young was touting the download as a must-have for any serious birder.
Birders have always been able to try out new binoculars and spotting scopes at the Bird Show, with manufacturers like Swarovski, Leica and Nikon present. But while business had been good for Rich Moncrief of Zeiss Sport Optics, he was excited about something else. Zeiss sponsored the New Jersey Young Birders event for youth ages 10-17. Zeiss paid for 16 children to come to Cape May and participate in exclusive activities like hawk banding and birding with experts.
Nature lovers could also browse a variety of art, or meet live animals up close. Booths displayed sea glass jewelry, nature photography, bird carvings and stained glass. Lisa Strauss of Hackettstown brought her Col de Mar display of wallets and business card holders made from tilapia fish leather.
Across the aisle, Erin Keifer and Cheryl Fisher displayed hawks, owls and snakes from the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford. Fisher carried on a one-sided conversation with a red-tailed hawk sitting on her hand. Keifer held a barred owl and kept a close eye on the live screech owl sitting on the table, which sat without moving, tricking many visitors into thinking it was stuffed. The animals returned to Medford each night of the three-day event. “It’s a long weekend for them, “ Keifer said.
The cold front that blew in last week was just what birders were hoping for. It pushed thousands of birds down the Atlantic Flyway, right through Cape May. Birders were treated to large numbers of warblers, waterfowl and birds of prey.
“It’s been very good, beyond our expectations,” said Marleen Murgitroyde of Cape May Bird Observatory. “Great weather, great birds.”