Bundle up and bring your binoculars to the spot where 7th Street meets the seawall in Avalon. You never know what you’ll see.

Each fall from September 22 – December 22, amateur birders and trained naturalists fixate on the skies and it is all for a good reason. Avalon Seawatch is an opportunity to track the bird population as hundreds of thousands of birds make their way along the Atlantic Flyway on their way south for the winter. Depending on the year, birders will spot between 800,000 and 1,000,000 million birds during the three-month period.

Each day you can head out between dawn and dusk and you could spot Atlantic Puffin, Long-billed Curlew, Wood Stork, Pacific Loon, California Gull, Sandhill Crane, Pomarine Jaeger, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Eider, King Eider and Razorbill and who knows what other birds show up. You can come and spend a few hours or spend the whole day. And if you don’t know a White Winged Scoter from a Black Crowned Night Heron, not to worry. Birders are a friendly bunch and the experienced watchers and pros will be glad to point out different species so you can learn to distinguish among the hundreds of species that pass by.

Although there are no facilities right there on the beach – rest rooms, food and such, there are restaurants and other amenities nearby.