Newsletter #182 - Cape May

Chasing the next high

As many of you know, a few years back I developed what some might call a "bird problem."

Prior to that, I never even thought about birds. I mean, I knew they existed, but I never really paid attention to them. They were just background noise.

But then I started hearing some of my friends talking about birds, and I became curious. What was all the fuss about? I’d hear them talking about this warbler or that thrush, and I began to feel like I was the only one who wasn’t birding.

Was it really that fun? I decided to find out.

First I rented a lens. Just to try it out, you know? No commitment. I needed to see what it was all about.

It was a lot easier to get into birding than I expected. Even though it seemed daunting at first, I realized pretty quickly that I could identify a few species that were commonly observed in my area.

You know, the gateway birds. Like the northern cardinal, for example. You’ve seen them.

You might think yellow goldfinches are exotic, but it turns out they're as common as the tufted titmouse.

That annoying “conk-la-ree!” I’d heard for years but never paid attention to? That’s the red-winged blackbird. Is that a good bird? I don’t know, I guess.

That "weep weep" call I'd probably heard my whole life but just filtered out? Great crested flycatcher. I hear it every year and now I know exactly what it is. Nothing special anymore. In fact, it lives here now.

Every now and then I see something that’s technically common, but hard to spot, and it kinda gets me going again. Like the cedar waxwing. It’s around, man, you just need to know where to look for it.

Like any habit that turns into an obsession, it takes time to truly understand the nuance. But now, five years in, I need more. The local birds just aren't doing it for me anymore. I've seen them all.

I need migrants. I need rare species. I need... a fix.

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That's why this week, I’m down in Cape May, NJ

I’ve heard Cape May is the hard stuff. A premier birding destination with as many as 400 different species passing through during migration season. It's where you go when you need something stronger than what you can find at home.

I came for that rush. That high of spotting something I've never seen before. That hit you can only get when you're standing on a Jersey Shore beach at 5:30 in the morning with eight layers of clothing and a photo vest scanning the horizon for a speck of movement. I don’t even like the beach!

I don’t even like New Jersey!

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Kristen Neufeld has been hooked on birds since her first tufted titmouse at age ten.
Zach Vitale enjoys the red-winged blackbird thankyouverymuch.

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