Cape May, New Jersey.

10-22-19 CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY: We drove south on the GSP in heavy rain until we passed the exit for Long Beach Island. As we passed Atlantic City, it was only a drizzle, and when we reached Ocean City, the rain had stopped. Cape May, exit zero, was almost dry, but densely overcast.

We took a quick peek at the ocean, gentle surf, and headed downtown for lunch. After crab and lobster rolls, we drove to our first birding site at the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge on Sunset Blvd.

There are gravel trails around beach ponds and through typical beach vegetation, small trees, blueberry bushes, sumac, and viewing platforms and blinds. There were lots of birds on the water, mallards and Canada geese, some swans. Raptors were circling above, including a bald eagle, and many small birds darting around in the brush. I mis-set the camera, and a lot of pix were over exposed and worthless, but some videos came out nicely.

We went on to Higbee beach, a more primitive site with sand trails, but saw only sand crabs and pretty Delaware Bay shore line, so we headed to the Cape May Light House observation area, a state park. There were many swans, an eagle, mallards, a snowy egret and I got a nice pic of a northern mockingbird. Audubon staff were on duty to help with ID's.

Be late afternoon it was time to check in at the Mission Inn, our B & B, before dinner at Peter Shields Inn and then back to the room for World Series Game One.


Northen mockingbird.

Many mallards, in the water feeding and resting on land.

Sand crab scurrying across the trail.