Snowbirds Heading South for the Winter

CAPE MAY POINT – In case you forget that Cape May County is below the Mason Dixon line, some Arctic visitors will remind you just how far south this area is. Snowy owls, usually found in Canada’s wintry north, are taking a beach vacation thanks to the polar vortex.
Beginning in December, sightings of the large white owls began filtering through the birdwatching network from places like New York’s JFK Airport. They kept moving south, with sightings at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Brigantine. In the past few weeks, there have been regular sightings at Stone Harbor Point and Cape May Point.
At Cape May Point, they were on the beach between Cape and Central Avenues, before shifting over to the bunker at the State Park, then onto a viewing platform at the Nature Conservancy’s Cape May Meadows. They cooperated with birders by mostly sitting still, making it easy for even casual observers to get binoculars or a spotting scope on them.
But people trying to get closer with cameras have spooked the owls, according to State Park employee Janet Hunnicutt. She thinks that the reason the owls haven’t been sighted in the park for almost two weeks is because of people getting too close in hopes of snapping a great photo.
Up the street at the Cape May Bird Observatory, Brian Muscatello says that the owls give cues that anyone can pick up on. If the bird is sitting still, or has its eyes closed, it’s unconcerned about human presence. But when it stares at you, or starts turning its head side to side, it’s getting stressed and you should back off. He recommends that instead of walking directly towards a snowy owl, photographers should try to walk at an angle as if they’re going past it.
“I’ve seen people flush the birds,” Muscatello said. “I watched a photographer at Stone Harbor Point flush the same bird twice. That’s not good behavior.”
The Bird Observatory has recorded snowy owls sightings from Poverty Beach in Cape May all the way around the point to the ferry terminal in Lower Township. The 2nd Avenue jetty has been a hotspot. Stone Harbor Point is also good, especially the viewing platform near the end of the dune.
Scientists with Project SNOWstorm are taking advantage of the high number of snowy owls in the region to track their movements. After capturing some of the owls, they fitted them with small solar-powered “backpack” transmitters that send out GPS coordinates.
According to their website, “The very first owl we tagged provided some big surprises. Caught on Assateague Island in Maryland on Dec. 17, ‘Assateague’ left two days later and flew north, loafing for a day on Cape Henlopen, Delaware, then crossing 38 miles of open water to reach the north shore of Delaware Bay. Then he moved down the New Jersey coast to the village of Reed’s Beach, where he spent a week. Leaving Reed’s Beach, he flew across southern New Jersey in the middle of the night, following the Tuckahoe River to the coast, then flying up the tightly-packed coastal towns to Atlantic City. Stopping briefly on the famous Steel Pier, he continued up the coast to the town of Brigantine, almost 100 straight-line miles (and more than 150 flying miles) from where he’d started just 11 days earlier.”
Snowy owls are one of the largest species of owl in North America. They stand 20-28 inches high, with a wingspan exceeding four feet. Although they can be difficult to see against a snowy background, they are likely to be seen on elevated perches like logs, fences, and even rooftops.
To contact Phil Broder, email pbroder@cmcherald.com.