Northern New Jersey day trip,

Cape May New Jersey two day trip,

Delaware Bay three day trip.

My favorite trips always consist of a short drive and long days of birding because when its light out, I want to be birding most of the day and not sitting in a car going somewhere to bird.

 I often arrange to pick people up in NY city or as I find is the easiest for everyone is if they take a train from Pen Station to Secaucus train junction it’s a short 8min ride and only one stop, this gets us out of the city quickly and on to the highway and moving early enough to reach a good spot before dawn. This way is way more relaxing than sitting in traffic in Manhattan and trying to get through the tunnels in rush hour.

Therefore one of my favorites places of all, is a day’s birding in Garret Mtn, West Patterson NJ.

 This park is without doubt one of the best migrant traps on the east coast in spring to see vast amounts of passerines. It is possible to see 20+ species of warblers in a day during most days during May and June. Add to that, the many other flycatchers, sparrows, thrush and small peeps and you have a first class birding spot.
There is a vantage point on the top of the mountain looking east towards the horizon and New York city. Where you can comfortably stand near a sheer cliff face that catches the morning warmth and wakens the early insects that attract the migrants. I would watch warblers as they came in off the Atlantic coast and drifted towards Garret Mtn in the rising sunlight. I unfortunately long ago let this particular cat out the bag and now several other birders will make their way here, to witness the annual movements of migrants as they come searching for a suitable landing spot away from the city and suburbia below. This is one of the few spots I know where you can stand and look down on the tree tops that have Blackpolls, Black-throated blue, Blackburnian, Black-throated green, Bay-breasted and on occasion Cape May warblers happily feeding below your footing. This usually lasts for an hour or more as wave after wave come up from the depths below, flutter above your head and invariably land on the short cliff top trees and then move on down the hill to the west which is Garret Mtn proper. This is also a great spot for Rose-breasted Grosbeak ,Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Orioles, Cuckoo’s plus Great Crested and Olive-sided flycatchers. During a thrush migration event, birds are everywhere, below, above, beside and around you so much so that it can be helpful to have someone knowledgeable close by to allow you to concentrate on the enjoyment of looking, without the distraction of trying to ID everything. You could spend the day here but of course birders are always thinking, what am I missing so you wander off to other areas to discover what you have not yet seen. This can be rather exciting also with many birds now scattered through-out the park. The main birding area for those on a first visit is generally around the lake and this can afford fantastic views of many species including both Waterthrush’s and many Baltimore and Orchard oriole. This is also the main spot to find singing Warbling Vireo and the only place in the park to see peeps such as the solitary and spotted sandpipers.

 The afternoon can be spent pleasantly in the park or we can travel 8 miles to the De Korte Meadowlands complex and see some wildfowl and thus increase our list by some 15 or more species.

If a two day trip is planned then we would take the GSP highway south to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge {approx 2.1/2hr drive from here} >> http://www.fws.gov/northeast/forsythe/ <<

This reserve with its large 47,000 wildlife acreage and large wildlife drive could easily take the rest of the day to complete. Depending on the needs of a particular group we can find modest or 5 star accommodations in the Atlantic City area.

 Second day we drive down to Cape May and outlying areas. Cape May has so many attractions you could easily spend a week here and still find new birding spots to explore day after day. I personally think Cape May in the fall is one of the world’s best birding spots with huge numbers of raptors and passerines moving through each day dependent on the prevailing winds. The spring in Cape May is not so exciting for passage birds but the local spectacle of Piping plover breeding on the beach and the chance of almost anything unusual turning up makes this town a must to visit.

>> http://www.fws.gov/northeast/capemay/ <<

 We can then move north on the Delaware bayside and visit Thomson Beach, Heislerville and Fortescue beach areas for migrating sandpipers.

On the way we will call into the Belleplain State Forest and see Yellow-throated warblers singing in the low trees beside the lake. This is also a excellent area to find Summer Tanager and with a little luck we should be able to find this more southerly cousin of the more abundant Scarlet tanager.

This nice collection of important bird areas can be found at >> http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionIBBA/IBBASiteGuide.aspx#BAY << if anywhere is especially interesting or has turned up an especially unusual migrant we could  very easily change plans and visit.  

From Fortescue it is a 3 /12 hr drive north to Secuacus station and back to the starting point.

 If another day it planned we can take the Cape May ferry to Lewes { Brown nuthatch spot} and bird northwards along the Delaware shore visiting Slaughter Beach, Port McMahon, Little Creek Wildlife Area and Bombay Hook NWR searching through huge numbers of sandpipers as we gradually move northwards.

>> http://www.delawarebirdingtrail.org/ <<  from here it is 2hrs to Philadelphia and 5hrs to Secuacus.

I will tailor make a trip for any number of participants and can book hotels and such dependent on time of year and group members accommodation needs, however this can vary wildly from week to week so a quote for such items is difficult to show here.

I prefer keeping the group to a low number so everyone can get good advice and get onto the birds we find.

If interested in booking a trip please contact me at the email address below or through my website.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy your trip to the USA.

Bill Elrick

Wyckoff

 NJ

07481

 Skype me as " Bilbander "

belrick@NYNJBirdingGuide.com

http://nynjbirdingguide.com/

The summer is over and now the sandpiper migration is getting into full swing.

There are many great spots within 1hrs driving distance of NY, NY, to see many species as they move southwards. 
Catch the Southbound Eastern Migration during July, Aug, Sept and October