But does it mean birds for New Jersey?
It could!
Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 5:30am 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.

I was just chatting with Sam Galick on instant messenger…and checking the radar as it downloaded onto my computer (the process by which I create the little animations you see above) and I was noticing that, while migration over New Jersey was very minimal early last night (winds were SSW), the movement across the NY and PA radars was considerably heavier. You can see this most clearly on the regional composite. The reason being a cold front running from NE to SW across our region, and the winds behind the front coming from the NNW. By midnight, though, it appears the front moved far enough to the east, and birds from the radars west of us begin to appear in our “airspace”. By 5:30am there appears to be a nice (but small) push of birds over our area- some of which looks like it’s getting pushed off the coast (as typically happens in the fall on these fronts). I would expect, based on what I’m seeing, that coastal locations would be seeing some good birds today…maybe not high densities, but a noticeable amount of birds making it back to land after sunrise, at least. Of course, you’re my only way to tell- since I’m covered in a manuscript I’m finishing, two lectures I’m preparing, and a Bayesian statistics class I’m struggling to keep up with…so go ahead- tell me I’m crazy (or correct, either one will work).

Good Birding

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

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