Warning: birding at night can turn you into a night owl.

The 65th Annual Cape May Autumn Birding Festival is coming up on October 28-30, 2011. This is always a fun and impressive event, as evidenced by the fact that it’s in its 65th year. Birders flock to Cape May to participate in field trips, lectures, and special events. Each year, we welcome birders to our Cape May Bed and Breakfast.

This year promises to be as exciting as ever. Ted Floyd will present a fascinating presentation on Birding at Night: The Final Frontier. Birders beware: “Night birding can become addictive”. Ken Kaufman will encourage participants to have “Birder Pride”. Festival participants can look forward to “Birding by Boat” aboard the Osprey, Birding by Bike, and even Birding by Kayak.

The Cape May Autumn Birding Festival is truly an event not to be missed, as least for birding enthusiasts. But we’d like to encourage birders to consider bringing binoculars to Cape May at other times, too. Try midweek birding. After all, the birds don’t care if you watch them on Saturday or Wednesday. They’re beautiful and interesting any day of the week.

The Osprey offers Birding by Boat tours daily. The Cape May Bird Observatory offers talks, walks, and other birding events on a regular basis. Cape May Point State Park is always open.

Many guests of our Cape May Bed and Breakfast are birders. These folks know that while special birding events are fun and informative, there are innumerable opportunities to see birds in and around Cape May, any day of the week.

We frequently welcome birders to our Cape May Bed and Breakfast. The New Jersey Audubon Society has said that “not watching birds when you’re in Cape May is like not visiting the Grand Canyon when you’re in Arizona”. While we recognize that not everyone is a birder, we encourage experienced and novice bird enthusiasts to spend some time and Cape May, binoculars in hand.

Bird watching amps up at this time of year, as the earliest fall migrators start to appear. While many of our guests enjoy visiting birding hot spots in and around Cape May on their own, others prefer to participate in guided bird walks. In the coming weeks, guided bird watching tours take place daily through the Cape May Bird Observatory.

A sampling of August Bird Walks offered through the Cape May Bird Observatory:

It's not too soon to reserve your room at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast!

• EZ Birding: ideal for folks who don’t want to walk too far, but still want to see many birds.
• Birding Cape May Point: explore one of the best birding spots on the east coast.
• Higbee Beach Birding: see the birds of this beautiful local beach with a CMBO naturalist.
• Sunset Birding at the Meadows: watch diurnal and nocturnal creatures as the sun sets behind Cape May Point Lighthouse.
• Photo Walks with Mike Hannisian: bring your camera for this serious nature photo learning expedition around Cape May Point State Park.
• Fall Migrants at the Rea Farm: enjoy the birding privileges of the NJ Audubon at a superlative fall birding spot.

Details for these walks and a list of additional events are found through the Cape May Bird Observatory. Preregistration is not necessary for the walks listed above. Simply put on good walking shoes and head out with your binoculars, bug repellent, sunscreen, and drinking water. Walks may be cancelled due to inclement weather.

If you enjoy any of the walks above, you may also enjoy the Cape May Autumn Birding Festival, which takes place the last weekend of October. This tends to be a popular event, so reserve your room at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast soon.

Adrea alba (Great Egret) and Cygnus olor (Mute Swan), originally uploaded by fbuderman919.

In the coming weeks, the hardiest of our feathered friends will be returning to Cape May.

We invite the hardiest of our guests to dust off your binoculars and head out birding the next time you come to our Cape May bed and breakfast.

Pictured above are an Adrea alba (Great Egret) and Cyngus olor (Mute Swan), on a warmer day than today.