Dates & Pricing

2025 September 26 -30, 2025
Price: TBD (2024 price = $2125)
Single room supplement: TBD Guide: TBD

2026 October 1-5, 2026
Price: TBD per person sharing
Single room supplement: TBD Guide: TBD Maximum of 7 participants

Cape May eBird Trip Report: Sep - Oct 2023
Cape May: Sep-Oct 2021 (Click HERE for photo gallery)
Cape May: Sept 2019
Cape May: Sep-Oct 2017
Coming soon!

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New Jersey: Cape may migration madness

Cape May is a magical place in fall. Birds pour south along the east coast, and many of them end up at the bottom of New Jersey. The diversity of habitats means that there's always birds to look at, whether it's songbird migrants, shorebirds, saltmarsh specialties, ducks, arriving seabirds, or the incredible raptor migration.

This is an easy trip, staying at one hotel the whole time and enjoying Cape May’s charming restaurants in addition to its mouthwatering birding.

View our 2024 itinerary

Itineraries will be updated with plenty of time before the next departure. Our itineraries usually show minimal changes between years, but some substantive updates can occur as birding access and information evolves. For any specific questions regarding these trips, please contact us.

SCROLL THROUGH OUR CAPE MAY PHOTO GALLERY BELOW

Merlin

This is the peak time for falcon migration in Cape May, and if the weather is right we could experience excellent flights of Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, and American Kestrel. Photo by Josh Engel.

Black Skimmer

An iconic Cape May sight: interesting birds in front of the famous lighthouse. Photo by Josh Engel.

American Crow

Both American and Fish Crows occur in southern New Jersey and present good opportunities to learn how to identify them. Photo by Josh Engel.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles are both residents and migrants here. Photo by Josh Engel.

Black Scoters

Sea ducks are just arriving at this time of year, so we hope to see Black Scoters flying along the shore. Photo by Josh Engel.

Brown-headed Nutcatch

We will take the ferry across to Delaware where our first order of business will be looking for Brown-headed Nutchatch, here at the northern edge of its range. Photo by Josh Engel.

Forster's Tern

Photo by Josh Engel.

Photographing skimmers

Black Vulture

Black Vulture is a good reminder that there is a strong southern influence to the birds in Cape May. Photo by Josh Engel.

Monarch

This is the peak time of year for Monarch butterfly migration. There is an active community of monarch taggers in Cape May, which is why this one is wearing a sticker. Photo by Josh Engel.

Boat-tailed Grackle

A common bird of the coastal wetlands along the New Jersey coast. Photo by Josh Engel.

Brown Pelican

Photo by Josh Engel.

Eastern Fence Lizard

Photo by Josh Engel.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

The local beaches present great opportunities for learning about gull identification. Photo by Josh Engel.

Black-and-white Warbler

One of the more common warblers at this time of year. Photo by Josh Engel.

Long-billed Dowitcher

Some of the wetlands we visit, like Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge are excellent for shorebirds. Photo by Josh Engel.