t and breathe the air. . . . l o o k a t d o l p h i n s , b e q u i e l e g a te p ~ Christina Ap
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Let’s Give The Birds A BIG HAND
Red Knots
A
t some point in your day, stop for a moment. If you can, open a window or step outside. Do you feel it? There’s a change in the air. It carries the breath of spring and the promise of warm, sunny days, evening light, and renewal. There’s something else, though, and for many it fills the air with a sense of electric anticipation: Spring migration is almost upon us. Birders everywhere are gearing up for one of nature’s great spectacles as millions of migratory birds set off on their epic journeys – a flood of birds bound for points north. And when this feathered wave breaks, there’s no better place to be than right where we are. To anyone who has only experienced New Jersey from inside a moving vehicle on the way somewhere else, the idea of it being a haven of natural beauty might seem crazy. Get off the Turnpike or Parkway, though, and a different world emerges. It’s here, in salt marshes and state parks, along shorelines and waterways, in wildlife refuges and backyard gardens, where the Garden State comes to life. New Jersey is a treasure trove of natural beauty, offering up its rewards to those willing to step off the road more traveled and explore. And if you happen to be a birder, the rewards are considerable. In a state rich in birding hotspots, Cape May County holds the highest concentration – and within that, Cape May itself is arguably New Jersey’s crown jewel. For those vacationing in Avalon, Stone Harbor, or Sea Isle it’s just a short ride to one of the best places in the world to bird. Rare varieties appear with alarming regularity, and during migration, common birds abound in numbers that often stagger the imagination, spinning out a vast network of life.
By Devin Griffiths of The Wetlands Institute Like a successful restaurant or vacation spot, the key to this avian richness is location, location, location. This area is a bird magnet, sitting squarely in the heart of the Atlantic Flyway. This 10,000-mile migratory superhighway connects islands in the Canadian Arctic to Tierra del Fuego at the extreme end of South America, and boasts some of the most productive ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. Millions of birds migrate along this flyway twice a year, every year. Some, like red knots and sanderlings, traverse its full extent, while others – snowy egrets and gray catbirds, for example – move much shorter distances. The Delaware Bay also plays a role in drawing migrants, presenting north- and southbound birds with a migratory hurdle. Northbound birds crossing it in spring come to rest at the first land they see – Cape May, at the tip of the New Jersey peninsula. Here, ravenous and exhausted, they refuel and recover. Birds traveling south interrupt their journeys here to gain strength and rebuild fat supplies, waiting for favorable weather conditions to make the crossing and continue on their way. This combination of location and geography makes our area a critical stopover. Countless numbers of migratory birds representing hundreds of species – warblers, raptors, herons, swallows, waterfowl, songbirds, shorebirds and others – all descend on the area to rest and feed. There’s a third factor at play that contributes to our biannual avian spectacle. It’s largely responsible for the remarkable density of birds one can find here during migration, but it is a bit sobering: habitat loss. Development, recreational use, and the impacts of climate
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As you move forward on the su
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American Goldfinch
change are dramatically altering the area’s wildlands, leaving less room for the birds that rely on them for shelter and sustenance, and changing the makeup of the habitat that remains. This concentrates more birds into less space, making them more visible but affecting their long-term survival. For birds dealing with the trials of migration, this poses yet another challenge. It has a more pronounced effect, though, on the birds for which Cape May is the final stop on the migratory journey. Increasing development and sea-level rise threaten habitat that breeding birds need to nest and raise their young. In addition, our desire for unrestricted recreational land use often stands in direct conflict with the survival needs of the birds. In some areas – notably our beaches and salt marshes – these threats overlap, birds losing critical nesting habitat to development, recreation, and sea-level rise, pushing already stressed birds to the brink. The upshot is that human activity is putting some of our most familiar birds at risk. The American black duck, eastern meadowlark, black skimmer, American oystercatcher, American robin, scarlet tanager and American kestrel are all in danger of moderate-to-severe impact on their populations. Even the ubiquitous and adaptable laughing gull isn’t immune: Repeated nest-site flooding is causing declines in this common bird. And if we continue on our current trend of warming temperatures, most climate projections show the American goldfinch losing much, if not all, of its breeding habitat. If nothing changes, New Jersey’s state bird could disappear. It was concern for situations like this that drove Herbert Mills more than 50 years ago. He knew that if
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it
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