With winds whipping at 30+ MPH, the grains of sand stung our faces as we slowly trudged across the beach to snap a few photos of the waves crashing in. The ocean seemed angry, constantly throwing 4-6 footers at the eroding beach. Other than a few a Ring-billed Gulls and small flocks of Sanderlings battling the strong gusts, Theresa, Darby and I were the only brave (crazy) visitors to this barren stretch of “salt water desert.” We were visiting Cape May Point for our annual fall trip to this southern NJ area known for its fantastic fall migration of birds. However, our timing was a bit off, since the 78 degree sunny, warm weather they were experiencing for the past 2 weeks had given way to a big, cold front, with several hours of rain and pounding gale force winds. Not the best conditions for outdoor activities, especially birding.

Strong winds transform the usual mild beach into a blasting sand storm, as Darby tries to capture the conditions with some creative photos

A young Ring-billed Gull struggles in the gusty wind and a dead horseshoe crab begins to get covered by the blowing sand

 Cape May Point is one of the best fall birding spots in the U.S. Birders from all of the east coast flock (pun intended) to this southern tip of New Jersey every autumn in hopes of seeing huge flights of raptors, song birds and seabirds. Why here? Most of the birds that are migrating south from eastern Canada and New England use the coastline in their journey south, kind of like a 3-D road map. The iconic symbol in the landscape here is the historic Cape May Lighthouse, in Cape May Point SP. The famous Cape May Hawk Watch is also located here, where volunteers count thousands of migrating birds of prey each year, from August through November. Cape May Point is the last tip of land the birds can use (rest and feed) before having to take the long flight over the Delaware Bay. So thousands of birds are “funneled” right over this peninsula. If conditions are right, thousands of birds may fly right over your head, from dawn to dusk. The final destination for some species may only be as far as Florida, while many others continue to Central and South America to spend the winter. Remember, when it’s winter up here in North America, it’s summer in South America! But, during our weekend, the birds had a very tough time of it.

The best conditions for seeing migrating birds at Cape May Point is with winds from the north or northwest. During our visit, the winds were directly out of the south, and strong! The birds we did manage to see, were struggling to fly into a brutal headwind. Despite the challenging conditions, we got some good looks at Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, Merlins, Osprey, Bald Eagles, Turkey Vultures, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, many gulls, Sanderlings, Black Skimmers, Caspian Terns and thousands of swallows.

Sanderlings (top photo) and Caspian Terns (bottom photo) hunker down in the wind.

Because of the tough, outdoor weather, we spent some time in beautiful Cape May, sampling some of the local eating/drinking establishments, an awesome fudge shop (they shouldn’t give out free samples), and once again, walking the beach through sand blasting winds, in search of the perfect sunrise photos. Cape May in late October is like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates, “you never know what you gonna get!”

Don’t look now, but fall has arrived! As the days grow shorter, and cooler temperatures arrive, nature begins to make many changes to get ready for the upcoming dormant season. One of the most dramatic, and most beautiful, is the transformation of the color of trees. The turning of leaves from various shades of green, to a brilliant assortment of reds, yellows and oranges is a spectacular part of the autumn season. But where do these bright colors come from, and why does it happen? To answer these questions, we must first understand the basic function of leaves. Get ready, here comes your science lesson!

Leaves are a tree’s source of food production. Without sounding too scientific, it happens like this. As the roots of the plant take on water from the ground, the leaves collect carbon dioxide from the air. The trees use sunlight to take these two main ingredients (water and carbon dioxide) to produce oxygen and glucose. From a human’s standpoint, oxygen is kind of important, since we need it to breathe. You can thank a tree for this! The glucose, a kind of sugar, is the plant’s food, which allows it to grow big and strong. This whole process is called photosynthesis. A chemical called chlorophyll makes photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. Do you follow me so far? Let’s bring it all together now.

As autumn arrives and the days grow shorter, there’s less sunlight for the trees to use, so they begin to “rest” and live off the food they’ve stored all summer, and photosynthesis pretty much stops. The green chlorophyll in the leaves begins to fade, and disappear, showing the tree’s “true colors.” So, these colors are actually in the leaves all summer, we just can’t see them since they’re covered up by the green chlorophyll! The remaining glucose (plant’s food) in the leaves turns color, like red, yellow or orange. In some species, like oaks, leaves simply turn brown from a waste product left in them, called tannin. To clarify, let’s compare it to a common food we eat, a banana. An unripe banana is green. The green color is chlorophyll. As the banana sits on our counter and ripens the green fades and it turns yellow, showing its true color. It’s the same process for our beautiful fall foliage displays.

We are fortunate here in Pennsylvania since we have some of the best displays of fall colors. Most of the Eastern U.S. is made up of deciduous forests-trees and shrubs that drop their leaves each year. These deciduous trees present some dazzling pageants of color each fall. The peak time to see these colors depends on where you live. In Pennsylvania, these changes usually start up north in mid to late September, and gradually move further south by mid to late October, and even into early November. I’ve noticed in our area over the past few years that our local colors tend to peak around the third week of October, depending on the weather. This year the colors may be less noticeable due to the very dry summer. Scientists believe that weather plays a large part of how spectacular the foliage display will be. Ideally, warm, sunny days combined with cool (not freezing) nights produce the best colors.

Specific tree species display particular colors. The most famous (and most photographed) are the Maples. Sugar maples display bright, red-orange colors, while Red maples show fiery crimson pigments. Hickories, Ash and Poplars exhibit shades of golden yellow and the Oaks are known to be somewhat duller in their deep scarlets and rich browns. I’m not biased however, I like them all! If I had to pick one season of the year that would be my favorite, it would definitely be autumn. The warm days and cold, crisp nights, fall bird migrations, harvest time, apple cider, Halloween and those leaves, those stunning, brilliant leaves, bursting with the chance to reveal their “True Colors!”