Beginning in 1890, when Witmer Stone first observed the fall hawk migration in Cape May amid continuous gunfire, he went on to spend more than 50 years studying Cape May birds in detail and serving the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in many important roles from 1888 to 1939. He was a founding member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in 1890 and served as president of the American Ornithologists Union from 1920 to 1923. His 1937 book, Bird Studies at Old Cape May, became a comprehensive work long regarded as the Bible of bird watching in Cape May. In 1930, he and members of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club demanded protection for the hawks of Cape May Point, helping lead to the establishment of the Witmer Stone Wildlife Sanctuary in 1935, one of the first efforts to conserve habitat in Cape May.