Page 64 - 2024 Southern NJ Vacationer

BIRDING
Maybe you’re already a “birder”
THERE ARE MORE than 350 different kinds of hummingbirds in the world. Here in New Jersey, you are most likely to encounter a Ruby-throated Hummingbird; a common summer guest in the southern part of the state. Stunning in their iridescent beauty as well as their speedy aerial acrobatics, they are also intercontinental travelers.
Fun facts about hummingbirds, including the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
• Their wingbeat (the number of times they flap their wings) is from 50 to 80 times per second; that’s over 3,000 times per minute!
• They are the only birds that can sustain a backward flight.
• They are pollinators. Hummingbirds are attracted to brightly colored flowers, especially red, pink, yellow and orange blooms.
• Their long, needle-like bills are adapted to reach into long, tubular flowers where nectar may accumulate deep inside the base.
• They nectar on flowers hundreds of times per day, even over 1,000 times per day.
• They are territorial and will fiercely defend a feeder or patch of flowers from other humming- birds, and even butterflies and moths.
• The iridescent red throat is only found on males and males and females are otherwise almost identical.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate to Central American countries from Mexico to Panama to spend the winter months, before
returning to eastern North America to breed. Researchers have found they can travel over 1,200 miles in a single flight during migration, having bulked up for the journey.
You can attract Ruby-throated Humming- birds to your yard by planting native flowers
and/or hanging a hummingbird feeder from a hook or branch. Because it is essential to keep your feeder clean and nectar fresh with a minimum of weekly replenishment, look for a red disc-shaped feeder. The red plastic is enough to attract the hummingbirds and your homemade nectar, made by dissolving one part table sugar into four parts hot water, will keep them coming back for more.
What could be better than hanging a hummingbird feeder? Hanging two or three! Put them out around April 15th and enjoy a full season of action. Hummers are most abundant in August as this summer’s young take flight and join the pre-migration feeding frenzy. Next summer, it’s likely that your hummingbirds will return to your feeders.
As with all things birds, the more you learn, the more you enjoy. Check out all the programs at New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory and Nature Center of Cape May at 701 East Lake Drive, Cape May Point. www.njaudubon.org l
Lillian Armstrong is Special Events Director at New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory. Ask her about the World Series of Birding, Spring Festival and Fall Festival!
ATLANTIC COUNTY LOCATIONS
Estell Manor Park: Home of the Warren Fox Nature Center. 109 State Highway 50, Mays Landing, NJ 08330. 609-645-5960 or 609-625-1897. atlanticcountynj.gov
Gaskill Park: Located at the bulkhead of the Great Egg Harbor River in Mays Landing, NJ 08330.. atlanticcountynj.gov
Lake Lenape: 6303 Harding Highway in Mays Landing, NJ 08330. atlanticcountynj.gov Weymouth Furnace: Route 559/Weymouth Rd, Mays Landing, NJ 08330. atlanticcountynj.gov
CAPE MAY COUNTY LOCATIONS
Cape May Bird Observatory: Center for Research and Education, 600 N Delsea Dr, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Cape May Bird Observatory: Northwood Center, 701 E Lake Dr, Cape May Point, NJ 08212 Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, 12001 Pacific Ave, Wildwood Crest, NJ 08260 Nature Center of Cape May, 1600 Delaware Avenue, Cape May, NJ 08204
Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary, 11400 3rd Ave, Stone Harbor, NJ 08247
Wetlands Institute, 1075 Stone Harbor Blvd, Stone Harbor, NJ 08247 CUMBERLAND COUNTY LOCATIONS
Edward G. Bevan WMA, 8747 Ferry Rd, Millville, NJ 08332
Cohansey River WMA, 66 Perry Rd, Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Dix WMA, Back Neck Road, Fairton, NJ
Egg Island Fish WMA & Fortescue WMA, Fortescue, NJ 08321
Heislerville WMA: Matts Landing Road, Heislerville, NJ 08324. For nesting bald eagles. Nantuxent WMA, East Bay Point Road, Cedarville, NJ
Natural Lands Glades Wildlife Refuge, 261 Schoolhouse Road, Newport, NJ 08345 New Sweden WMA, Cedarville, NJ 08311
Stow Creek State Park, Stow Creek Road, Stow Creek Landing, NJ
62 SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY VACATIONER