Cape May.
Cape May, on the southernmost tip of New Jersey, is probably one of the top birding spots in the country, with nearly 320 species recorded. If you can be there during fall migration, it will be one of your most treasured birding memories. The Cape May National Wildlife Refuge provides critical habitat to a wide variety of migratory birds and other wildlife. Its unique configuration and location concentrates songbirds, raptors and shorebirds as they funnel south to Cape May Point during their fall migration. Faced with 12 miles of water to cross at the Delaware Bay migrants linger in the area to rest and feed until favorable winds allow them to cross the Bay or head north along the Bay's eastern shore. Cape May Peninsula is renowned for its spectacular raptor migrations each fall. During this period great numbers of 17 raptor species are commonly seen. It’s not just in the fall migration that shorebirds migrate through here. In May or early June, more than 20 species of shorebirds pass through heading north to their breeding grounds.
Cattus Island County Park.
This park near Toms River is almost 500 acres, and has miles of hiking trails. The unspoiled beauty of nature is the main attraction at Cattus Island County Park. Boardwalks through wetlands offer excellent birding, and the two-hour workshops they hold are designed to expand the participant’s knowledge of birds and birding. Toms River is almost on the Jersey coast, where Rte 9 crosses the Garden State Parkway (and is almost directly, as the crow flies, east of Philadelphia).
Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.
Almost 90 percent of Forsythe Refuge is tidal salt meadow and marsh, interspersed with shallow coves and bays. These provide important resting and feeding habitat for water birds. Each year large numbers of ducks and geese, wading birds and shorebirds concentrate here during spring and fall migrations. It also attracts good numbers of songbirds and raptors. Look for Saltmarsh's Sharp-tailed Sparrow from the boardwalk at Brigantine. Over 250 species are recorded annually here.
Great Swamp Refuge.
Just 26 miles west of downtown Manhattan (and almost exactly west of Newark), Great Swamp is located 7 miles south of Morristown and is a reasonably easily accessable site for birdwatchers who are looking to get out of the city for a half day. This refuge has a variety of habitats, including marsh, hardwood swamp, upland timber, streams and ponds, brush and grassland. Habitats are managed to provide conditions preferred by waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds and other species during spring and fall migrations and the nesting season. Over 240 bird species have been recorded here.
Palmyra Cove Nature Park.
Palmyra is primarily famous for it's migrants, particularly in fall migration between mid-August and November. During mid-September as many as 27 warbler species have been recorded in a single day. The site is known to harbor more Connecticut Warblers than any other site in NJ, with the possible exception of Cape May. In spring, favorable days in the first two weeks of May can bring up to 20 species of warblers to the site. The best areas to bird are the trails through the woods. 270 species have been recorded here. Palmyra Cove Nature Park is at the foot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge off Rte 73. on the Delaware River almost directly opposite the central section of Philadelphia.
Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge is located along the Delaware River estuary just north of the Salem River in the south west of the state. It is approximately seven miles south of Rte 49 South exit from Interstate 295. A variety of habitats including tidal wetlands, fresh water wetlands, old fields, grasslands and forest are represented here. It is an important feeding and resting area for shorebirds and waterfowl, particularly during the fall and spring migrations. Warblers, sparrows and other migratory birds use the upland areas of the refuge as resting and feeding areas during migration and for nesting during the summer.