April & May 2019

David LaPuma took over from Pete Dunne as director of
Cape May Bird Observatory five years ago. Of his job, he
says, “On the worst days, it’s work; and on the best days it’s
a dream. I get to work with fantastic people who all believe
in the mission we are committed to. You don’t do this work
to get rich, you do it because of a fire inside you. I made a
decision a long time ago that I wouldn’t work my butt off for
two weeks of vacation, but rather find something that I love
where it feels like I’m on vacation at work.”
were going to Rutgers, they gave us the full rundown of why
we had to go to Cape May. Both had worked here seasonally
for the bird observatory, and both raved about the community.
When I arrived in New Jersey, I quickly learned more
about New Jersey Audubon, became a member of CMBO
and started going on walks run by New Jersey Audubon across
the state. I would go on to participate in the World Series of
Birding here in Cape May for several years while at Rutgers
and would meet many great Audubon staff during my graduate
work. I’m always impressed with how many people I meet
across the country and internationally who know of Cape
May’s reputation as a birding mecca.
How familiar were you with Cape May before you came
here? All of my family growing up, the ones not in Florida that
is, were in Bergen County or spread across the five boroughs
of New York City. So when we went down the shore from my
cousin’s in New Jersey, we went as far as Spring Lake. I honestly
had no idea Cape May existed until I was planning to
move to New Jersey for graduate school.
How have you adapted to living year-round on the
island? I love Cape May year-round, especially when I can
travel a month in the winter. When we were in Wisconsin, it
amazed me that the place still functioned at such a high level
through brutal winters. I’d see people jogging, in the snow, with
strollers covered in these thick plastic shells to keep the kids
warm! They would even ride fat bikes on snow-packed trails to
work! Our kids went to a Waldorf school that required all kids
to have rain and snow gear at the school just in case. So, the
kids were outside every day, rain sleet or snow! They even had
a chimenea that they would light before school and the kids
would warm up in between bouts of playing on the snow-covered
playground. So, contrast this with Cape May, where, when
it snows an inch, everyone hibernates! That has been a little
harder to deal with. Even the kids’ school has a policy to not go
outside when it’s below freezing. They’re getting better, but it’s
a bit of an uphill battle. If you want to be a year-round community,
you’ve got to find ways to be active all year. I’d like to see
more activities for kids through the winter, but overall we’re
happy with our community, and West Cape May is the BEST Cape May!
Your favorite spot on the planet? No idea. I wouldn’t be surprised
if I haven’t been there yet. Inga always accuses me of falling in love with
wherever I am. The first time I call home when on a new trip, I tell them
how wonderful it is, and how I could see us living there. Did that a few
weeks ago when I was presenting at San Diego Bird Festival. San Diego is
rad! Great landscapes, great birds, the people are great, pot is legal, and
you can surf and snowboard in the same day! I fell in love. I’ll be back, but
I’m not ready to pull up stakes and move out west.
How many trips a year out of the country do you typically make?
Depends. Since 2014 we’ve forged some wonderful partnerships with bird
observatories in Sweden, the UK and Israel, so I’ve been to each of them
several times over the last five years. New Jersey Audubon also has an
EcoTravel program where we offer tours, so I’ve enjoyed putting together
some of these, including a Wisconsin tour and a Cuba tour, the latter
which I’ve run for the last two years in January. I love the tropics — we’ve
done a little traveling to Panama over the last few years. It has been really
cool to watch our daughters geek out in the tropics with all the wild biodiversity
and new cultural experiences. I didn’t get that chance until I was
out of college.
Did you always want to work in the wildlife realm? I didn’t know what
I wanted to do. I was the first in my family to go to college, so it was just
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