For limited-registration programs where preregistration is required, please send payment (checks should be made out to CMBO), program choice, and date of program along with your full name, address, and daytime phone number to CMBO, 600 Route 47 North, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210. You may also register by phone; call (609) 861-0700. Paid registration ensures a place. For these preregistration programs, group size is limited and a minimum number of participants is necessary. Sorry, no refunds unless the program is cancelled by CMBO. Instructions for field trips, including meeting place, will be sent at least one week before the event.
Top 5 Reasons to Join a Cape May School of Birding Workshop.
Thousands of CMBO Workshop alumni are out there in the field, applying the skills they learned in Cape May. Read what they have to say about CMBO’s Cape May Birding Workshops.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Belleplain State Forest field office in Woodbine.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis.
Everyone’s dreamed of learning bird songs, and everyone can. Everyone also spends time each spring “getting their ear in,” re-learning the songs they already know. Jump-start your audio-recall by learning how to listen critically, group and categorize song types, and (as your song and call repertoire grow) gain confidence and skill. The rewards are huge - the ability to filter the world of song through your ears and link names to those unseen vocalists. Many of southern NJ’s breeding birds are back and singing heartily, and migrants will be joining the chorus, too.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at the Belleplain State Forest field office in Woodbine.
Led by Louise Zemaitis and Michael O’Brien.
It’s been suggested that without the excitement of warblers in the spring there would be no bird watching as we know it today. No family of North American birds is so colorful, vocal, and animate. No spring is complete without a trip seeking warbler waves. Here’s your trip. Timed to catch the peak of the northern migrant wave and see species like Blackburnian and Canada and southern breeders like Hooded and Prothonotary. And did we mention that vireos, thrushes, and tanagers will also be about?
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Belleplain State Forest field office in Woodbine.
Led by Mark Garland and George Myers.
Maybe you had weekend plans and couldn’t make our first Warbler Workshop. Maybe you love warblers so much you signed up for both workshops (and maybe for Birding by Ear too!) Like Michael and Louise, Mark and George are masters of these sprites of spring. Warbler time comes only once a year – take advantage of it!
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Louise Zemaitis and George Myers.
Birding for everything! Celebrate spring with migrating songbirds deposited by the night sky and shorebirds teeming on the mudflats. Hooded and Kentucky Warblers sing in the shadows of Belleplain State Forest, while Summer Tanagers “piki-tuck” overhead. Red Knots and Sanderlings feed in mosaics of rust and silver on the Delaware Bay shore, and egrets and herons dot the back bay meadows. This workshop is all about diversity, and focuses not only on identifying the birds, but also learning about their lives.
Cost: $225 members, $265 nonmembers.
Meet 8:00 a.m. at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.
Led by Don Freiday and George Myers.
Ruddy or knot, here it comes! Last May Don was watching TWO Curlew Sandpipers parade around a mudflat populated by about 15,000 other shorebirds, all in breeding plumage, and thinking, why don’t we do a spring shorebird workshop? This is the time – and the place. Stunning Black-bellied Plovers on Nummy Island, often with Dunlin fitted out in the breeding garb that earned them their old “Red-backed Sandpiper” appellation. Swarms of peep, spiced with plenty of White-rumped Sandpipers, will be on the flats. We’ll see Dowitchers, yellowlegs, Ruddy Turnstones, and Red Knots. Learn to tell them apart and enjoy them. We’ll go wherever the birds are concentrated. This workshop combines well with CMBO’s Cape May Spring Weekend event in mid-May.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 4:00 a.m. (optional) or 7:00 a.m. at High Point State Park Headquarters.
Led by Don Freiday and Mark Garland.
World Series of Birding teams routinely come out of Sussex County with over 130 species on their lists – and that’s after only four hours of daylight! With High Point and Stokes State Forest, the rolling grasslands of Wantage, and many marshes small and large, there is no better place to hear a diversity of bird songs in a concentrated area, from Cerulean and Blackburnian Warblers to Barred Owls and Bobolinks. We’ll recommend a place for lodging in Milford, Pennsylvania, (or you can find your own). We’ll start early each day, break for a siesta, and (optionally) head back out in the evening for more listening. Don has been the North Jersey anchor for CMBO’s World Series team since 1990, and knows the birds up there by their first names. This workshop will be entirely in the field, and yes, we will look at birds as well as listen to them.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 8:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Don Freiday.
Geared for people just starting out. We’ll go over how to use binoculars (and have loaners available), how and when to use a field guide. Learn how to go about this thing called birding while actually doing it. The afternoons will feature birding “just for fun,” and are optional. This workshop will demystify the identification process - it’s all just learning the tools and tricks. Workshop price includes the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds, or, if you already have a field guide you like, Pete Dunne on Bird Watching. (A repeat of the March 29-30 workshop.)
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:30 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis.
Everyone has trouble telling Forster’s Terns from Common Terns - it’s normal! This workshop will make sense out of that challenge, not to mention Royal vs. Caspian, and could possibly luck into lingering Arctic, Roseate or Sandwich Tern. The Cape May Rips are a tern concentration hotspot, and NJ’s first successful Royal Tern nesting happened last year at Champagne Island near Stone Harbor. Learn tern plumage patterns, what to look for, and what not to.
Cost: $75 members, $115 nonmembers.
July 15 and/or 16 and/or 17. Meet 8:00 a.m. at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.
Led by Pat Sutton.
Jump on the naturalist’s wagon and learn to find and identify butterflies and dragonflies in the same hotspots visited for birds. Sign up for one, two, or all three days. Cape May County’s many wildlife gardens and natural areas host a rich assortment of butterflies (107 species) and dragonflies & damselflies (109 species). Pat Sutton will combine indoor sessions at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen with outdoor field time in wildlife gardens and natural areas. Identification, natural history, and how to attract these bugs to your own yard will be covered. Tuesday: butterflies (indoor & outdoor). Wednesday: field day (butterflies and dragonflies/damselflies). Thursday: dragonflies/damselflies (indoor & outdoor). Sign up for one, two or all three days (any combination that works for you).
Cost: $75 per day members, $90 per day nonmembers.
July 15 and/or 16 and/or 17. Meet 8:00 a.m. at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.
Led by Pat Sutton.
Jump on the naturalist’s wagon and learn to find and identify butterflies and dragonflies in the same hotspots visited for birds. Sign up for one, two, or all three days. Cape May County’s many wildlife gardens and natural areas host a rich assortment of butterflies (107 species) and dragonflies & damselflies (109 species). Pat Sutton will combine indoor sessions at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen with outdoor field time in wildlife gardens and natural areas. Identification, natural history, and how to attract these bugs to your own yard will be covered. Tuesday: butterflies (indoor & outdoor). Wednesday: field day (butterflies and dragonflies/damselflies). Thursday: dragonflies/damselflies (indoor & outdoor). Sign up for one, two or all three days (any combination that works for you).
Cost: $75 per day members, $90 per day nonmembers.
July 15 and/or 16 and/or 17. Meet 8:00 a.m. at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.
Led by Pat Sutton.
Jump on the naturalist’s wagon and learn to find and identify butterflies and dragonflies in the same hotspots visited for birds. Sign up for one, two, or all three days. Cape May County’s many wildlife gardens and natural areas host a rich assortment of butterflies (107 species) and dragonflies & damselflies (109 species). Pat Sutton will combine indoor sessions at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen with outdoor field time in wildlife gardens and natural areas. Identification, natural history, and how to attract these bugs to your own yard will be covered. Tuesday: butterflies (indoor & outdoor). Wednesday: field day (butterflies and dragonflies/damselflies). Thursday: dragonflies/damselflies (indoor & outdoor). Sign up for one, two or all three days (any combination that works for you).
Cost: $75 per day members, $90 per day nonmembers.
Meet 8:00 a.m. at Bombay Hook NWR Headquarters.
Led by Don Freiday and Mark Garland.
Come along to experience the first wave of southbound shorebirds in a well-known birding hot spot, one with a different species mix than oft-visited locations like Cape May, Brigantine or Jamaica Bay. Late July means we’ll be dealing with adults returning from the Arctic, many still wearing their breeding garb, which offers more clues and confidence for shorebirders. Bombay Hook is known for lots of shorebirds and lots of good ones, including the big fancy ones like American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts. The area has a reputation for attracting rarities, too, so perhaps our workshop will be spiced by a Ruff or Curlew Sandpiper. We’ll recommend a place for lodging in Dover, DE, or you can find your own.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:30 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Pete Dunne.
Had trouble with shorebirds? Consider them beyond your skill? Maybe the problem is you’ve been told to look at them the wrong way. Shorebirds get easier the minute you stop looking at the feathers and start looking at the bird. Can’t figure out the two yellowlegs? Greater Yellowlegs run around like crazed linebackers, while Lesser Yellowlegs are methodical pickers. Can’t see the legs on that peep, and want to know if it’s a Least or a Semipalmated? Leasts have fine, drooped bills, small heads, and a hunched appearance, Semi’s are larger headed and have blunt straight bills. Now for the dowitchers. . .you’ll have to take the workshop.
Cost: $225 members, $265 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Louise Zemaitis and Michael O’Brien.
An astonishing array of creatures passes through Cape May as summer wanes. It is peak time for many long-distance-migrant warblers, vireos, and flycatchers, shorebirds are still abundant, tern numbers are increasing, and a few raptors have begun passing through. At the same time, butterflies from the south are wandering northward and swarms of dragonflies appear whenever winds are from the west. Combining birding with watching insects can heighten one’s awareness of the natural world and, in Cape May, of the dynamics of migration. Field time will be augmented by an indoor session at the Center for Research and Education, convenient to the great butterfly gardens right outside!
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Higbee Beach WMA.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis.
Ever longingly watch a songbird fly over, wishing it would perch so you could identify it? Or had a flock of blackbirds on the horizon and wonder if they were grackles or red-wingeds? Birding Cape May often means birds in flight - if you wait for them to land, you miss ¾ of the fun! Both Michael and Louise live in the midst of the Cape May flight experience when not leading tours, and Michael counted migrant songbirds for CMBO for many years at the dike at Higbee Beach. Both have probably forgotten more than most people know about flight i.d. Whether it’s warblers, vireos, orioles, hawks, warblers, blackbirds or ducks, a better teacher of flight i.d. could not be found.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Louise Zemaitis and Michael O’Brien.
A Cape May Sampler Workshop. Songbirds in the morning, shorebirds, seabirds or raptors in the afternoon. We go where weather conditions dictate. We strive to see the greatest species diversity. Mid-September straddles the migratory timetable. You’re not too late for shorebirds, not too early for hawks and right on time for warblers and other neotropical migrants. If you want the most, here it is.
Cost: $225 members, $265 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Don Freiday and George Myers.
You didn’t want to go back to work anyway! This workshop will be “just birding,” no indoor time (unless the weather makes being indoors seem sensible), and at the prime time to be in Cape May. Many people hear us say the phrase “cold front” in the fall. . . the difference between a good day and a great day in Cape May often hinges on when the front passed. You want to be in the field the day after it does, and a three day workshop increases the chances of hitting it right. Taking back-to-back 3-day workshops really ups the odds, too - worth considering!
Cost: $225 members, $265 nonmembers.
Meet 8:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Don Freiday and Mark Garland.
This is the peak migratory period for Kestrels, Merlins, Peregrines, Sharp-shinneds. . .birds that are best learned through experience in the field, because their identification hinges on GISS (pronounced jizz). GISS isn’t magic, but it sometimes seems that way, allowing practitioners to pin names to distant birds without lifting binoculars, or to “micro-dots” seen through binoculars. Besides being a great time for raptors (we neglected to mention Northern Harrier, Osprey, Bald Eagle), late September is marvelous all around, and we will break up the day by looking for “raptor food” (sparrows, warblers, shorebirds and ducks) as well as raptors.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:00 a.m. at Higbee Beach WMA.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis.
Birds don’t sing much in the fall - but they sure do call. Chip notes, flight notes and critical listening are the subject of this workshop, led by the man who wrote the book (well, made the CD-ROM) on flight calls. Two days with Michael equals years of struggle on your own. The workshop will include optional night-time listening for nocturnal migrants. What you’ll learn from this workshop will not only amaze your friends. You’ll amaze yourself.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Led by Michael O’Brien and Louise Zemaitis.
A workshop celebrating the LBJ’s (little brown jobs.) Subtle and cryptic they might be. Difficult to identify, they are not, providing you have the right instructor, the right place and the right time. A time when lots of sparrows of lots of species abound. Common species like Swamp, Field, Savannah and Chipping. Uncommon ones like Clay-colored, Vesper, Lincoln’s, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed and Salt-marsh Sharp-tailed. Which 8 sparrows, when flushed, are likely to fly a long way and above eye level? Which 4 species fly away weakly before dropping into the grass. Which 7 are the ‘tweeners, flying away strongly and low into dense cover (and which 3 of these wag their tails in flight)? Learn this and more at our annual sparrow workshop, which will reveal how stunning sparrows can be.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 8:00 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Pete Dunne and George Myers.
At fifteen raptor species, this is the time of peak raptor diversity in Cape May. Perhaps including bonus birds like Golden Eagle and Swainson’s Hawk! It is a rare moment during late October in Cape May when something raptorial is not in view. Learn how to tell buteos from accipiters from falcons from eagles at the very edge of eyesight. Pete Dunne is an authority on birds of prey and the only thing he enjoys more than watching them is imparting the knowledge he has accumulated during his 15,000 hawk watching hours.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.
Meet 7:30 a.m. at Cape May Point State Park.
Led by Pete Dunne and Don Freiday.
This is the time Cape May’s local birders wait for. THE Bird Show and Autumn Weekend have come and gone (hopefully with you in attendance), the crowds have diminished, and the most massive fallouts of the season commonly occur NOW! Sparrows, kinglets, bluebirds, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, and literally who knows what else, since this is the season for vagrants in Cape May. If you’ve come for the weekend, or even if you haven’t, and want to maximize your chances of experiencing a real Cape May migratory fallout, here’s your best bet for great birding and real, experiential birding.
Cost: $225 members, $265 nonmembers.
Led by Mark Garland and Michael O’Brien.
Late fall is waterfowl time. Ducks are settled into their wintering areas and molted out of eclipse plumage. By late November the Tundra Swans and Snow Geese are back from the arctic, and sea ducks have stationed themselves along the inlets and jetties of the Atlantic coast. You can see plenty of waterfowl in Cape May, but the really huge flocks are more often found across the Bay in Delaware. Visit coastal areas from Indian River Inlet to the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge to learn about waterfowl and other birds that winter in wetland habitats. We’ll suggest a hotel in Dover, or you can find your own accommodations.
Cost: $150 members, $190 nonmembers.