New Jersey Birding: Top Five Destinations

1. Horseshoe Crab Spawning Areas

You don’t have to be a birder to be awed by this spectacle, considered one of the natural
wonders of New Jersey. During high tide in May, tens of thousands of horseshoe crabs crawl up
on the beaches of Delaware Bay to breed. Surrounded by a group of males, the female digs a nest
in the sand and lays thousands of eggs. This natural phenomenon attracts an estimated 500,000
to 1.5 million migratory birds to the southern shores of New Jersey every year. The peak
spawning period is mid to late May when a new or full moon creates higher tides. Spawning
occurs during high tide, and the best birding is at low tide when the horseshoe crab eggs are
exposed.
     The spawning areas are all on the southwest coast, stretching from Norbury’s Landing in the
South to Fortescue Wildlife Management Area farther north. Fortescue’s half-mile-long beach is
one of the best areas to see a wide variety of shore birds. Buff-breasted sandpipers, marbled
godwits, ruddy turnstones, willets, semipalmated plovers, American oystercatchers, and many
more flock here by the thousands during low tide. Take Fortescue Road to New Jersey Avenue
and drive .5 mile south to the Raybins Beach area.
     You can combine several points of interest by viewing the spectacle from Heislerville Wildlife
Management Area, located south of Route 47 at the end of East Point Road and home to the East
Point Lighthouse. The Maurice River flows through Heislerville’s 7,166 acres of tidal marsh,
coastal mud flats, and upland forest. On a single day one recent year in May, the naturalists at
Heislerville counted 2,000 short-billed dowitchers and 2,000 dunlins on Thompson’s Beach (east
of the lighthouse), in addition to 300 black-bellied plovers, 50 least sandpipers, 10 greater
yellowlegs, and 2 spotted sandpipers on the mudflats next to the Maurice River. East Point
Lighthouse overlooks the scene, New Jersey’s second oldest lighthouse built in 1849.
     Continue south along the coast and you will come to Reeds Beach, then Norbury’s Landing,
about 15 miles south of Heislerville on Route 47. Both spots are usually staffed with naturalists
during the spawning period, and both are good places to see the Red Knot. Red Knots are sort of
the star of the show, migrating non-stop from the tip of South America to land and refuel on
Delaware Bay crab eggs before continuing north to their breeding grounds in the arctic. The birds
must double their weight within days in order to continue their journey, a task which is
completely dependent upon the high energy contained within horseshoe crab eggs.

Cape May Point State Park at the tip of the Peninsula supports a bird
blind and several observation towers that overlook a variety of ponds,
marshes, dunes, and woodland. One of the largest hawk migrations in
North America occurs each autumn, when birders from around the
world arrive to view rare eagles, hawks, owls, vultures, and falcons.
The Cape May Hawk Watch is held from an observation tower
overlooking the Atlantic Ocean just south of the park office. Walk east
along the beach from the hawk-watch tower and you can’t go wrong
for shorebird sites.
Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge located south of Sunset
Boulevard is another highly praised birding area. Salt marshes and
dunes are home to the endangered least tern and piping plover. A
boardwalk and observation platform give access to almost a mile of
shorefront, where gulls, terns, egrets, and herons stop to feed and rest
during migration. Nesting shorebirds line the dunes in spring, when
piping plovers and least terns arrive to dig depressions in the sand for
their eggs. The behavior of nesting on beachfront property, and on open

sand, has left these species especially vulnerable to coastal development and predation by
domesticated animals.
A few additional areas gain attention from birders as well. Higbee Beach Wildlife
Management Area at the western shore of the peninsula sees more than one million migratory
birds every year, and offers everything from coastal dunes, meadows, and ponds, to woodland,
hardwood swamps, and farm fields. The eastern end of the wildlife management area is known
locally as Hidden Valley (south of New England Road and west of Bayshore Road), a great
place for migratory warblers, sparrows, and gnatcatchers. You can see shorebirds from your
parked car at the end of Sunset Boulevard, where a World War I shipwreck sits offshore and
plovers, sandpipers, and terns mingle with the surf.

3. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

You don’t have to be a bird watcher to be impressed by the number of
waterbirds diving into the impounds at the Brigantine section of Edwin
B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Keep your life list ready, because
an 8-mile drive through this 43,000-acre refuge of tidal wetland
provides a chance to see the hundreds of species that migrate through
every year. The variety of birds recorded at Forsythe is impressive,
almost 300 species, including rarities such as piping, American golden,
and black-bellied plovers; upland, curlew, and solitary sandpipers; as
well as roseate terns, least terns, American white pelicans, and sooty
shearwaters, among others. This coastal region has long provided the
primary nesting habitat for Atlantic brants and American black ducks, as
well as nesting yellow-crowned night herons, tricolored herons, glossy
ibises, blue-winged teals, American kestrels, and many more.
The refuge supports a number of trails through undeveloped
sections, but the fresh and brackish water impounds at Brigantine are a
good place to start. Take the Garden State Parkway south to exit 48
(Route 9 South). Drive 5.6 miles south on Route 9 into Oceanville and
turn left on Great Creek Road. Proceed .6 mile to the refuge office on
the right, where you will find maps and information. There is an
entrance fee throughout the week.

4. Sunrise Mountain Hawk Watch

Some of the premier sites in the United States for observing the fall hawk migration are in New
Jersey. Sunrise Mountain’s hawk watch at Stokes State Forest is the most popular, and one of
the best in the state. The fall migration takes place between August and December, and peak
activity occurs during September and October. Dozens of species are counted every day,
including common sightings of eagles, falcons, kestrels, and a diverse assortment of hawks.
Northern harriers, merlins, Cooper’s hawks, gyrfalcons, Swainson’s hawks, and others fly
through regularly. The greatest numbers occur from early to mid-morning, one or two days
after a cold front has moved through the area. A pavilion at the top of Sunrise Mountain
provides the best viewpoint. From the corner of Sunrise Mountain Road and Mattison School
Road in Stokes State Forest, drive east on Sunrise Mountain Road for 4 miles and bear right at
the Sunrise Mountain access road. Proceed .7 mile to the parking area.

5. Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and Pea Patch Island

Sandy Hook and other excellent birding destinations may well deserve a spot here, but these two
sites are great for beginning birders and they are often overlooked in the birding literature and
travel guides. Almost 3,000 acres of tidal salt marsh along the Delaware River serves as a
sanctuary for nesting, migrating, and wintering birds. Throughout the spring, thousands of
nesting herons make daily journeys from their rookery on Pea Patch Island to the salt marshes of
Supawna Meadows in search of food. Shorebirds, ducks, and gulls make use of the tidal areas
throughout the year, including purple sandpipers, greater yellowlegs, green-winged teals, hooded
mergansers, and herring gulls. Waterbirds are not the only inhabitants here, since 20 percent of
the park consists of upland fields and woodland that supports American woodcocks, eastern
meadowlarks, northern bobwhites, savannah sparrows, and wood thrushes. A great number of
raptors migrate through or nest as well, including ospreys, red-tailed hawks, northern harriers,
great horned owls, short-eared owls, and American kestrels.
Pea Patch Island holds the largest Atlantic Coast heronry north of Florida. Up to 12,000
pairs of nine different species arrive each spring, including great blue herons, black-crowned
night herons, little blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets, yellow-crowned night herons,
tricolored herons, cattle egrets, and glossy ibises. Pea Patch Island provides one of the few
breeding grounds remaining along the Atlantic Flyway, since much of the habitat along the
Eastern Seaboard has been destroyed by coastal development. Thousands of nesting herons and
egrets make daily journeys from Pea Patch Island to the rich feeding grounds of nearby
Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Pea Patch Island and Supawna Meadows are
located on the Delaware River, five miles northwest of the town of Salem. A round-trip ferry
service runs from nearby Fort Mott State Park to Pea Patch Island from April through July.