woodcreeper

A picture’s worth a thousand words, right? Well, click on the first image and you can flip through the series explaining what’s on tap for this weekend. It should be interesting!

[View with PicLens]

• Read More »

Just a trickle last night, but some birds were definitely moving. Looks like the next cold front is on the way with a bigger flight on tap over the weekend. More details to follow as we approach.

Good BIrding!

David

• Read More »

It’s always a matter of clearing out the cobwebs once migration begins. Every year I say I’ll get an earlier start, and every year I find myself buried in other work just as the season explodes around me. Well, this year is no different! Yesterday I did a little mid-afternoon birding around work and noticed a dearth of winter migrants around. At first I scanned the area for a sharp-shinned or cooper’s hawk, but after about 10 minutes of very little activity (in an area usually full of activity) I realized that birds may have moved out overnight. Well, after checking the radar, it appears they did! Last night, again, was no exception, although judging by the radar, we should see a bit of replacement this morning (as opposed to the night before, when migration was mostly an exodus out of NJ). The radar loops below include images from 9:00pm last night through 5:30am this morning, so migration was well under way at the beginning of the loops.

Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Conditions last night were pretty good for nocturnal migration, especially over the mid-Atlantic, from central NC up through NJ. Winds turned more NW as one moves further north, and only a light amount of migration can be seen on the NYC radar, as compared to those further south. Coastal NC also was under less optimal winds, and therefore experienced the least amount of migration in the Mid-Atlantic region. Otherwise, winds were SSW in the southern half of the region, turning more westerly up into northern NJ. Westerly winds were more common at altitude, while surface winds tended to be more out of the SW.

Simply based on the time of year, I would expect this wave to be composed of short distance migrants. A report at 11:30pm last night from Andrew Farnsworth out of NYC reports…

“…an interesting assortment of calls from vocal migrants moving tonight in
NYC including Hermit Thrush (4), Brown Creeper (2), Red-breasted Nuthatch (2), White-throated Sparrow (8), and Song Sparrow (5) among
others. Not huge numbers (44 calls in the last 1.5 hours), but decent.”

With a moderate westerly component to the winds last night, I would expect NJ to get a fair number of these birds. This type of weather bodes well for Central NJ as well as coastal locations such as Sandy Hook, which lie at the NE boundary. Garret Mountain should see this influx this morning, but realize that the predominant species will likely be those which you’ve been seeing all winter, just clearing out of the southern Mid-Atlantic. Keep an eye out for Red-breasted Nuthatch, and the possible Pine, Yellow-throated, and LA Waterthrush warbler species. Spring has sprung, and it looks like there’s more on the way this weekend!

Good Birding

David

• Read More »

Between the text messages coming in about birds around Cape May and the activity on the various listserves covering the mid-Atlantic, Zugunruhe is setting in at my desk! The bird activity has definitely picked up around here as of the last couple of days. Don Freiday has been diligently posting about it on the Birdcapemay.org blog, complete with snazzy photos from the local birding community. Therefore, I won’t go into specific sightings except to say that I’d like some time to look for that Eared Grebe that Chris Vogel found yesterday on the south end of Nummy Island (maybe tomorrow??).

I have been checking out the weather forecast, though, and it looks like things are going to pick up this weekend. Tonight, even, we could see a flight over New Jersey, although most of the favorable conditions will be quite local, so expect predominantly northbound winter residents such as White-throated and Song sparrows, American Robins, etc. (actually, you can pretty much expect these species regardless of the conditions, given the time of year). As a cold front approaches this weekend, the migration superhighway will connect the southern states to the mid-Atlantic and we should see some of the early migrants making their way into the region. For instance, expect Pine and Yellow-throated Warblers to make their way into NJ by the end of the weekend. I’ll be keeping an eye on the radar, and post it here as soon as we see some action. Until then, work on some neck stretches… warblers are coming.

Good Birding

David

• Read More »

Heads up birders- CMBO/NJAS are having their 15th annual optics sale this weekend starting at 9am on Saturday. More details can be found here: http://featheredgeoptics.com/
I’m posting about it simply because I walked downstairs and saw the goods for sale with my very own eyes… and in these times of tight wallets, there are some great deals on refurbished Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss, etc., plus awesome deals on floor items, discontinued items, and overstock. If you’re a CMBO or NJAS member, this sale should not be missed; and if you’re not a member, well then this sale should be just the incentive you need (if you need an incentive at all!).

Sharp Focus and Clean Lenses

David

• Read More »

20100221-DSC_0400

Originally uploaded by woodcreeper.

MIGRATION! Yes, Spring is upon us, and things down here in South Jersey are changing faster than I can say “hey! look at that Laughing Gull!”. Southerly winds have begun to bring early spring migrants to the Garden State, and it’s only going to pick up from here. Bird song is thickening during my morning dog walks, and the beach just beyond our rental has had upwards of 3 different individual Black-headed Gulls during the last month. Here’s a shot of one of them, who as of today (this photo was from Feb 27th) has much more black in its hood… hopefully it’ll stick around to come into its full glory.

So I just wanted to get the ball rolling and assure you that I’ll be posting the radar starting late this month. I will try to take a combined forecasting-radar interpretation approach to make the site more effective, and hopefully get a little deeper into the radar analysis since that’s what I’m now doing for gainful employment (at NJ Audubon). Being this close to Cape May should afford me some regular ground-truthing as well- something I’ve been longing for ever since arriving in NJ back in January of 2004.

As things ramp up around here, be sure to check out Angel and Mariel Abreu who are the now running Badbirdz-Reloaded down in Miami, Florida (http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com). From there you can watch as birds arrive from Cuba and the Caribbean, as well as those that get blown east off of the Yucatan. Seeing these large flights moving up through Florida is a great bellwether for predicting arrivals here at home.

Okay- that’s enough for now. I hope to see each of you participating in the discussions here on woodcreeper.com… I think this year is going to be the best thus far!

Good Birding

David La Puma
Villas, New Jersey

• Read More »