April & May 2019
April & May 2019 Color Issue
April & May 2019
Color Issue
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David LaPuma took over from Pete Dunne as director of<br />
Cape <strong>May</strong> Bird Observatory five years ago. Of his job, he<br />
says, “On the worst days, it’s work; and on the best days it’s<br />
a dream. I get to work with fantastic people who all believe<br />
in the mission we are committed to. You don’t do this work<br />
to get rich, you do it because of a fire inside you. I made a<br />
decision a long time ago that I wouldn’t work my butt off for<br />
two weeks of vacation, but rather find something that I love<br />
where it feels like I’m on vacation at work.”<br />
were going to Rutgers, they gave us the full rundown of why<br />
we had to go to Cape <strong>May</strong>. Both had worked here seasonally<br />
for the bird observatory, and both raved about the community.<br />
When I arrived in New Jersey, I quickly learned more<br />
about New Jersey Audubon, became a member of CMBO<br />
and started going on walks run by New Jersey Audubon across<br />
the state. I would go on to participate in the World Series of<br />
Birding here in Cape <strong>May</strong> for several years while at Rutgers<br />
and would meet many great Audubon staff during my graduate<br />
work. I’m always impressed with how many people I meet<br />
across the country and internationally who know of Cape<br />
<strong>May</strong>’s reputation as a birding mecca.<br />
How familiar were you with Cape <strong>May</strong> before you came<br />
here? All of my family growing up, the ones not in Florida that<br />
is, were in Bergen County or spread across the five boroughs<br />
of New York City. So when we went down the shore from my<br />
cousin’s in New Jersey, we went as far as Spring Lake. I honestly<br />
had no idea Cape <strong>May</strong> existed until I was planning to<br />
move to New Jersey for graduate school.<br />
How have you adapted to living year-round on the<br />
island? I love Cape <strong>May</strong> year-round, especially when I can<br />
travel a month in the winter. When we were in Wisconsin, it<br />
amazed me that the place still functioned at such a high level<br />
through brutal winters. I’d see people jogging, in the snow, with<br />
strollers covered in these thick plastic shells to keep the kids<br />
warm! They would even ride fat bikes on snow-packed trails to<br />
work! Our kids went to a Waldorf school that required all kids<br />
to have rain and snow gear at the school just in case. So, the<br />
kids were outside every day, rain sleet or snow! They even had<br />
a chimenea that they would light before school and the kids<br />
would warm up in between bouts of playing on the snow-covered<br />
playground. So, contrast this with Cape <strong>May</strong>, where, when<br />
it snows an inch, everyone hibernates! That has been a little<br />
harder to deal with. Even the kids’ school has a policy to not go<br />
outside when it’s below freezing. They’re getting better, but it’s<br />
a bit of an uphill battle. If you want to be a year-round community,<br />
you’ve got to find ways to be active all year. I’d like to see<br />
more activities for kids through the winter, but overall we’re<br />
happy with our community, and West Cape <strong>May</strong> is the BEST Cape <strong>May</strong>!<br />
Your favorite spot on the planet? No idea. I wouldn’t be surprised<br />
if I haven’t been there yet. Inga always accuses me of falling in love with<br />
wherever I am. The first time I call home when on a new trip, I tell them<br />
how wonderful it is, and how I could see us living there. Did that a few<br />
weeks ago when I was presenting at San Diego Bird Festival. San Diego is<br />
rad! Great landscapes, great birds, the people are great, pot is legal, and<br />
you can surf and snowboard in the same day! I fell in love. I’ll be back, but<br />
I’m not ready to pull up stakes and move out west.<br />
How many trips a year out of the country do you typically make?<br />
Depends. Since 2014 we’ve forged some wonderful partnerships with bird<br />
observatories in Sweden, the UK and Israel, so I’ve been to each of them<br />
several times over the last five years. New Jersey Audubon also has an<br />
EcoTravel program where we offer tours, so I’ve enjoyed putting together<br />
some of these, including a Wisconsin tour and a Cuba tour, the latter<br />
which I’ve run for the last two years in January. I love the tropics — we’ve<br />
done a little traveling to Panama over the last few years. It has been really<br />
cool to watch our daughters geek out in the tropics with all the wild biodiversity<br />
and new cultural experiences. I didn’t get that chance until I was<br />
out of college.<br />
Did you always want to work in the wildlife realm? I didn’t know what<br />
I wanted to do. I was the first in my family to go to college, so it was just<br />
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