Heavy migration over the Northeast


Heavy migration last night over the entire Northeast and most of the Mid-Atlantic as winds were blowing from the N/NW toward the frontal boundary that had passed over our area during the day yesterday. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through sunrise this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Base Reflectivity image from Fort DixBase Velocity image from Fort DixBase Reflectivity image from Dover AFBBase Velocity image from Dover AFBComposite Base Reflectivity image from the Northeastern USA

The signal is quintessential “bird migration”. Base reflectivity appears as growing concentric circles as birds take to the sky after sunset; the circles appearing to “grow” as more birds reach higher altitudes which the radar picks up at increasing distances from the radar station, and “shrink” as birds descend and land before sunrise. If you check my post from last night, you’ll see that the winds were light (5-10kts), yet the base velocity shows objects moving across the radar at 20-30kts in a general N–>S direction. This is exactly what we would expect, since when winds are favorable birds migrate at 15-20kts faster than the prevailing wind speed.

The front, a true boundary, separated these northerly winds from the southerly winds, and hence demarcates the limits of the major migration event. Since the front had cleared New Jersey before this morning, birds moved relatively freely over the state and birding conditions are probably best at coastal fall migrant traps such as Sandy Hook (north) Island Beach State Park (central) and especially Cape May (south). All local patches should be checked, however, since the influx of birds from the north was quite large. Please stop by and post your observations!

P.S. Come see what’s happening down south on woodcreeper’s sister site: Badbirdz – Reloaded

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5 responses to “Heavy migration over the Northeast”

  1. Date: 27-Aug-07 WindDesc: none Temp(F): 61 Precip: none

    StartTime: 6:45 AM WindDir: variable CloudCover: none

    EndTime: 9:00 AM Location: HMF

    Notes: big southbound migration last night. Winds were calm to
    NW and migrants had been backed up for a week or
    more. Not very birdy around my place (not a good fall spot anyway), although a few notable migrants
    present.

    English Name Scientific Name Notes

    Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus – flyover

    Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

    Ruby-throated Archilochus colubris – 3, at feeder
    Hummingbird
    Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens – several, resident

    Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus – 1

    White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus

    Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus – 2

    Chickadee sp. Poecile sp. – many

    Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor – many

    White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis – many

    Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus

    House Wren Troglodytes aedon

    Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina

    American Robin Turdus migratorius – many

    Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis – many

    Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum – many

    Chestnut-sided Warbler Dendroica pensylvanica – 1, HY

    Magnolia Warbler Dendroica magnolia – 2, HY

    Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia – 3, at least 1 HY

    American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla – 3, HY

    Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

    Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus

    Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla

    Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula – 1

    American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis – many

  2. We went to Sandy Hook this morning. The flags were blowing from a northeasterly direction which is never good for passerine migration at the Hook.
    While we did see BG Gnatcatcher, Eastern Kingbird and a few other species including 5 RB Nuthatches it was very quiet. We did see 3 White-Rumped Sandpipers and 1 Western SP at the ephemeral pond on the right going out on the Fisherman’s Trail at the North end. All in all it was a disappointing
    morning.

  3. A small but noteworthy flight at Chimney Rock this morning- Magnolia, BT Blue, Redstart, Parula…a lone migratory osprey…in roughly 45 minutes.

  4. Reports from the Mid-Atlantic (MD, DE, PA, NJ) are mixed this afternoon, with some folks finding very little sign of migration, and others finding more; including a mix of warblers, flycatchers including Olive-sided and Empidonax spp., and Catharus thrushes. The only relatively consistent pattern seemed to be a big movement of Red-breasted Nuthatches across the region.

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