NEW THIS YEAR !
Introduction to Bird Photography - March 27 & 28 (with Scott Whittle)
Backyard Bird Sounds: Introduction to Birding by Ear - April 24 (with Don Freiday)
Bird and Tree Identification - September 20 & 21 (with Don Freiday)
How to Register for School of Birding Workshops
Thanks for your interest in birding and learning in Cape May, the birding capital of North America!
We suggest registering early for workshops to ensure a place.
Register by phone
Simply call the Cape May Bird Observatory (609.861.0700 ext. 11) with the name(s) and date(s) of the workshops for which you are interested. We will accept payment by credit card over the phone at time of registration.
Register by mail
A digital registration form will be available on this site soon. You can also send us a note with the workshops for which you are interested and include your name, mailing address, daytime phone number (including a cell number if available), and an e-mail address along with your payment. All correspondence should be mailed to: Cape May School of Birding
Cape May Bird Observatory
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Payment
Workshop registration may be accompanied by full payment or you can reserve a space with a $25 non-refundable deposit with balance payment due 2 weeks prior to the workshop. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, check, or money order.
Refunds
Refunds will be subject to a processing fee and will be accepted up to weeks prior to the scheduled date.
There will be no refund for cancellations received with less than 10 days notification. If the workshop is
cancelled by CMBO, full refunds will be provided to participants in the manner they were received.
Instructions
Detailed instructions and recommended reading will be sent to all registered participants in advance of each workshop, usually by e-mail. All Cape May workshop meeting locations are on our Cape May Birding and Butterfly Map available for download from our website, or can be mailed to you upon request along with the detailed instructions.
Membership
If you are not a current CMBO or NJ Audubon member, you can join at the time of registration to receive the member discount.
Transportation
All transportation throughout the workshop is the responsibility of the participant. Meals and lodging are not included. For a list of recommended accommodations and restaurants, visit the "Places..." listing on our website or call 609.884.2736 for a Places brochure.
2010 Workshop Leaders
MEGAN CREWE has been birding since childhood. A tour guide for more than a decade for Field Guides, a birding tour company, Megan's leadership bursts with information and enthusiasm. She serves as co-secretary and council member for the Neoptropical Bird Club. After living in England for nearly a decade, Megan has returned to the Cape May area with her husband Mike, CMBO's new Northwood Center Store Manager.
MIKE CREWE joined the staff of CMBO in September 2009, and is the latest in a long-line of "Brits" to be drawn to Cape May and its world-class birding. Mike visited the area annually since 2000, and during his 12 years as a professional tour guide in the UK, has brought several birding groups to the area since 2003. Prior to being a tour guide, Mike worked for several years as an environmental consultant and spent 16 years in the horticultural trade. His interests go far beyond birding, and Mike will be happy to talk at length about wasps, moths, reptiles, plants...if it's natural history, he's into it!
DON FREIDAY is the Director of Birding Programs for CMBO. Familiar to many through his published nature writings and daily blogs on www.birdcapemay.org, Don has worked in the field of nature interpretation and/or wildlife biology for over 25 years. He has taught wildlife ecology at Rutgers University, is a member of the NJ Bird Records Committee, authored two books, and has led birding tours throughout the US and abroad. Don's remarkable bird-finding and hearing skills complement enthused and focused teaching.
MARK GARLAND is a naturalist and tour leader celebrated for his amazing wide-ranging knowledge, teaching skills, and genial good nature. A resident of West Cape May, he was for many years on the staff of the Washington D.C. based Audubon Naturalists Society and later a Senior Naturalist for CMBO. Now a freelancer, Mark's followers are legion and few who join him for Cape May workshops or his international tours fail to repeat with another trip...and then another...
MICHAEL O’BRIEN is one of the finest field birders in North America, and testifying to his character, remains one of the nicest people you will ever meet. A leader for VENT, Michael co-authored The Shorebird Guide and America's 100 Most Wanted Birds, and contributed artwork to the latest renditions of both the National Geographic and Peterson Field Guides. His CD-ROM, Flight Calls of Migratory Birds, created with Bill Evans, is the Rosetta Stone of that subject. Michael is well versed in butterflies and dragonflies, as well as everything avia.
SCOTT WHITTLE is a professional photographer who recently settled in the Cape May area. He received an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, and has 15 years of experience as a freelance photographer in New York City with images published in dozens of publications. In 2008, he used his camera to help set a birding Big Year record for New York State, documenting 349 of the 350 birds he saw. He also competed in the 2009 Digital Photography Division of the World Series of Birding. He has taught photography workshops in Maine and New York, and is always excited to help his students achieve their photographic goals.
LOUISE ZEMAITIS is a VENT tour leader and long-time Associate Naturalist at CMBO. Louise compiles the Cape May Christmas Bird Count and coordinates the Monarch Monitoring Project in Cape May. An honors grad at Temple's Tyler School of Art, she is a talent freelance artist and her illustrations have been widely published. Workshop participants remember her for her polished teaching skills, infectious laugh, and broad knowledge of natural history, especially butterflies and dragonflies.
Why Join a Cape May School of Birding Workshop?
- Fun, attentive, world-class leaders on every workshop.
- A chance to visit one of the truly best birding places on the planet.
- Meet great, like-minded people for lasting memories...and friendships.
- Be a better birder and enjoy a feeling of accomplishment when you are done.
- Registration fees help support the mission of NJ Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory.
On A Typical Workshop
- The majority of time is spent in the field, watching, listening, and learning.
- There will be at least one indoor session, normally in the afternoon. There may be more on extended workshops or in case of inclement weather.
- Daily plans are adjusted to meet local weather and migration conditions.
- We look at all birds we encounter, but still remain focused on the topic of the workshop.
- Leader to participant ratio is 1:12 or better.
- Questions are always welcome - before, during, and after the workshops.
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.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Wintering Hawks, Eagles, and Owls with Don Freiday
3-Day Workshop on February 13 - 15 (President's Weekend - Saturday thru Monday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
The perfect time for a weekend of raptor watching and learning. Thirteen diurnal raptors and all eight New Jersey owls are possible on this workshop, thanks to southern New Jersey’s mosaic of prey-rich habitats. You’ll see a lot of other great birds in the process, along with some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes on the Eastern Seaboard. Learn to find and recognize good wintering hawk and owl habitat. The bulk of this workshop is in the field, with indoor sessions to heighten your understanding of wintering birds of prey. Past years have featured a Golden Eagle hunting Snow Geese in the company of several Bald Eagles, plus point-blank Eastern Screech-owl, Rough-legged Hawks of both color morphs, and hunting Short-eared and Great Horned Owls.
Begins 8 AM at Center for Research & Education, Cape May Court House.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Megan Crewe.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
1-day Workshop on Saturday, February 27
With Don Freiday
Cost: $85 members, $125 non-members
With Don Freiday. From the brown and mottled to the clean and gray, you either love gulls or you don’t. Whatever camp you’re in, join Don Freiday for a morning in the field learning the easy way to separate the four common winter gulls and practicing sifting flocks of gulls for something rare, and perhaps even find an Iceland Gull or other species. We’ll also cut through the fancy terminology around age and molt. After lunch we’ll head indoors for a review of gull plumages, aging, and some of the rarer species.
Begins 8 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mike Crewe.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Introduction to Bird Photography with Scott Whittle
2-Day Workshop on March 27 & 28 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
Whether you're looking to accelerate your identification skills, or show the world how you see the birds around you, the camera is a perfect tool. In this two day workshop, professional photographer Scott Whittle will help you work with the equipment you have to achieve your photographic goals. The course will include an overview of gear and how to use it, shooting sessions in the field, and how to develop a digital workflow that gets you the best possible image. Participants are encouraged to bring their cameras and laptops, or borrow equipment from a friend.
Begins at 8 AM.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Field Sketching for Beginners with Michael O'Brien
1-Day Workshop on April 3 (Saturday)
Cost: $85 members, $125 non-members
There is no better way to learn the details of a bird’s structure and plumage than to draw it, and many expert birders, like Michael and Louise, are also artists. Learn tips and tricks for quickly sketching birds in the field when there may not be time for painstaking observation. Drawing birds brings advantages to non-artists, too, simply from the need to look at a bird critically in order to draw it, and is a great way to document an unusual species. No artistic talent or training needed. This workshop has been very popular so sign up early!
Begins at 8 AM.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Backyard Bird Sounds: An Introduction to Birding by Ear with Don Freiday
1-Day Workshop on April 24 (Saturday)
Cost: $85 members, $125 non-members
Both new and experienced birders are often daunted by the diversity and variability of bird sounds, though everyone recognizes how helpful knowing songs and calls can be. This workshop will begin with a morning listening to “standard” bird songs, like American Robins, Chipping Sparrows, and House Wrens, and learning how to analyze and categorize sounds to simplify learning. We’ll hear many other species, of course, like Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Towhees and more. After lunch, we’ll spend a bit of time in the classroom listening to recordings and refining skills, then return to the field. This will be excellent preparation for our other birding by ear workshops.
Begins at 7:30 AM at Villas Wildlife Management Area.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mark Garland.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Birding by Ear: Southern Forest, Field and Marsh with Michael O'Brien
2-Day Workshop on May 1 & 2 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
Everyone has dreamed of learning bird songs, and everyone can. Even experienced birders spend 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. Many of southern NJ’s breeding birds are back and singing heartily, and migrants will be joining the chorus, too.
Begins 7 AM at Belleplain State Forest in Woodbine.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Warblers by Sight and Sound with Louise Zemaitis
2-Day Workshop on May 6 & 7 (Thursday & Friday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
It has 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 with species like Blackburnian and Canada, and also to find southern breeders like Hooded and Prothonotary. And did we mention that vireos, thrushes, and tanagers will also be about?
Begins 7 AM at Belleplain State Forest in Woodbine.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Michael O’Brien.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Spring Migration Peak Week with Louise Zemaitis
3-Day Workshop on May 8-10 (Saturday thru Monday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
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. RedKnots 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.
Begins at 7 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Michael O’Brien.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Birding by Ear: Appalachian Birdsong Immersion with Don Freiday
2-Day Workshop on May 28 & 29 (Friday & Saturday)
Cost: $190 members, $230 non-members
Road Trip! With forests, hemlock glens, marshes, streams and bogs, there is no better place than northern NJ to hear a diversity of bird songs in a concentrated area, from Cerulean and Blackburnian Warblers to Ruffed Grouse and Barred Owls. We’ll recommend a place for lodging in Milford, PA (or you can find your own), and concentrate on High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest in Sussex County, NJ. Plan to have lunch in the field. We’ll break each day in early afternoon, since the days begin so early. This workshop is entirely in the field, and yes, we will look at birds as well as listen to them – birds like Cerulean and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and over 100 others there to be heard or seen.
Begins 4 AM (optional) or 7 AM at High Point State Park in Sussex, NJ.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mark Garland.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Shorebirds in their Finery at Bombay Hook with Don Freiday
1-Day Workshop on July 29 (Thursday)
Cost: $85 members, $125 non-members
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.
Begins 8 AM at Bombay Hook NWR, Smyrna, DE.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mark Garland.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Shorebirds with the Man Who Wrote the Book with Michael O'Brien
3-Day Workshop on August 10-12 (Tuesday thru Thursday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
It's not surprising Houghton Mifflin’s landmark The Shorebird Guide (2006) sprang from the brains and hands of three Cape May birders and authors. Now you can experience some of the east coast’s best shorebirding while guided by one of them. Michael O’Brien is equal parts skilled birder and superb teacher. Search storied locations like Bunker Pond, the South Cape May Meadows, Stone Harbor, and (just a few clicks up the road), Brigantine NWR for peep, plovers and yellowlegs plus possible gems like phalaropes or godwits. Over 25 plovers and sandpipers are in easy reach, with some species numbering in the thousands. Learn to begin with size, shape, behavior and voice, and then move on to careful examination of plumage details, just as The Shorebird Guide teaches.
Begins 7:30 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Don Freiday.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Warblers, Vireos and Flycatchers with Louise Zemaitis
2-Day Workshop on August 24 & 25 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
We’ll let you in on our local secret: late August is a superb time to be afield in Cape May searching forpasserines en route to the neotropics! Empidonax flycatchers, kingbirds, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and over 20 warblers are frontline possibilities at Higbee Beach or Cape May Point State Park.The trails are less crowded with birders,and the birds themselves often behave as if they are less pressed for time than they are later in the season (read: better looks). Many of our fancier breeding birds, like Blue Grosbeaks and Yellow-breasted Chats, are still around, and given that it’s still the height of shorebird season, we’ll devote a bit of time to the waders, too.
Begins 7 AM at Higbee Beach WMA.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Michael O’Brien.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Birds in Flight with Michael O'Brien
2-Day Workshop on September 4 & 5 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
You’ve heard of the legendary Higbee Dike, where migrant songbirds are identified and counted as they fly past. How do those guys do it? Here’s your chance to learn from one of “those guys!” For certain groups of birds - ducks, seabirds, raptors - flight identification techniques have been well established. But have you ever longingly watched a songbird fly over, wishing it would perch so you could identify it? Or had a flock of blackbirds on the horizon and wondered if they were grackles or red-wingeds? Learn how to apply what we’ve learned about flight identification to any bird that crosses your air space, be it a familiar-in-flight Sharp-shinned Hawk, or a relative stranger like a tanager or oriole.
Begins 7 AM at Higbee Beach.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Fall Migration Sampler with Louise Zemaitis
3-Day Workshop on September 10-12 (Friday thru Sunday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
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. 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.
Begins 7 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Michael O’Brien.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Bird and Tree Identification with Don Freiday
2-Day Workshop on September 20 & 21 (Monday & Tuesday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 members
Ever been told, “It’s at ten o’clock in the locust tree. . .” and think, “Yeah, but which one’s the locust?” Were you intrigued that David Sibley chose trees for the subject of his latest field guide? Set in the heart of fall migration, this workshop will feature warblers, shorebirds and hawks in the mornings, and trees (plus birds) in the afternoons. We’ll be in a variety of habitats, good for both birds and trees, shrubs and vines. Don T.A.’d dendrology (the study of trees) in college.
Begins 7 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mark Garland.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May Birding Holiday with Don Freiday
2-Day Workshop on October 2 & 3 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
This workshop will be “just birding,” no indoor workshop time (unless severe weather dictates otherwise) at the prime time to be in Cape May. Expect eagles, ospreys, falcons,accipiters, shorebirds, late warblers, early sparrows, and many others. Bookend your 2-week Cape May birding vacation either before this workshop with our Bird and Tree Identification Workshop September 20-21, or after with Advanced Birding by Ear October 9-10, at the absolute peak of Cape May fall migration.
Begins 7 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Mark Garland.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Advanced Birding by Ear with Michael O'Brien
2-Day Workshop on October 9 & 10 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
Birds don’t sing much in the fall - but they sure do call. Chip notes, flight notes and critical listening are the primary subjects 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. Includes optional night-time listening for nocturnal migrants. Learn to dissect a single note, determining whether it rises or falls, is clear or burry. You will never listen the same way again.
Begins 7 AM at Higbee Beach.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Sparrow Workshop with Michael O'Brien
2-Day Workshop on October 16 & 17 (Saturday & Sunday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
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 and lots of species abound. Common species like Swamp, Field, Savannah and Chipping. Uncommon ones like Clay-colored, Vesper, Lincoln’s, Nelson’s and Saltmarsh. Learn the basics of size, shape and behavior first, then practice examining plumage patterns to discover how stunning sparrows can be.
Begins 7:30 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Hawks in Flight with Michael O'Brien
2-Day Workshop on October 27 & 28 (Wednesday & Thursday)
Cost: $150 members, $190 non-members
With fifteen raptor species, this is the time of peak raptor diversity in Cape May. Broad-wingeds may still linger, and accipiters, falcons and buteos can be head-to-toe. Perhaps a bonus bird will appear, like Golden Eagle or 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, and the 16+ ways to tell Sharp-shinneds from Cooper’s Hawks. This workshop will tune your identification skills and makes a great lead in to the annual Cape May Autumn Weekend!
Begins 8 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Louise Zemaitis.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.
Cape May School of Birding Workshop
Cape May with Everything On It! with Louise Zemaitis
3-Day Workshop on November 1-3 (Monday thru Wednesday)
Cost: $225 members, $265 non-members
This is the time the local birders wait for and a great way to extend the Cape May Autumn Weekend! 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 week starts the season for vagrants in Cape May. It’s also a great time for big raptors like buteos and Golden Eagle, and large seabird flights pass Avalon and Cape May Point nearly every day.
Begins 7:30 AM at Cape May Point State Park.
Second leader (if registration warrants) will be Michael O’Brien.
Preregistration required; call CMBO at (609) 861-0700 x11 to register.