woodcreeper

Light migration at Duke Farms this morning…

Palm Warbler (1)
Black & White (1)
Chestnut Sided (1)
Redstart (approx 20)

Gnatcatchers (3)
Peewees (2)
Great Crested Fly (1)

Thrashers (3)
Indigo Buntings (3)
Tanager (1)
Towhee (1)

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds (2)

I plan on doing the exact same walk tomorrow morning, so we’ll see if an easterly component makes a difference…

Any shorebird sightings or signs of their migration with last night’s good conditions?

Also interested in Peregrine Falcon movement.

Moderate migration in Gloucester County this morning. But hard to judge as birds were scattered. I had no big migrant flocks. Some highlights:
3 GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHERS
1 EASTERN KINGBIRD
1 VEERY
5 WARBLING VIREOS
1 PHILA. VIREO
2 PARULAS
1 CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
1 MAGNOLIA WARBLER
1 CAPE MAY WARBLER
2 BLACK-THROATED GREENS
5 BLACK and WHITE WARBLERS
12 REDSTARTS
1 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH

There were migrants last night. But I think they were of the more common birds, and thus hard to distinguish. As I wrote on Jerseybirds, I had Canada, redstart, and blue grosbeaks at 6 mile run, very near you. And tons of robins, blue jays, etc. No swallows, interestingly.

As I said, the coast was the place to be!

http://www.birdcapemay.org/blog/

Morning Flight highlights (15 Warblers, Lark Sparrow, Peregrine, American Golden Plover and Dickcissel) plus Philadelphia Vireo et. al. at State Park
posted by Don Freiday | 5:16 PM
Last night’s cold front produced a nice 2000+ bird flight this morning at Higbee despite the northeast winds.

David- Yeah, shorebirds do move at night (and during the day) and do get picked up on the radar. Unfortunately you can’t discern them on the radar, and most birders (not all, but most) focus on passerines, so the shorebirds go overlooked in regards to ground-truthing the radar. Shorebirds will migrate in less-than-desirable conditions, since they fly higher and faster than passerines, and therefore probably account for a greater proportion of those birds we see migrating into a headwind. It’s definitely something to think about when interpreting the radar, especially at this time of year. As for peregrines, I’m not sure. They’re diurnal migrants and therefore wouldn’t get picked up on the radar. You can check the records on http://hawkcount.org/ to see the timing for Peregrines over the region.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

David

It is interesting to know that shorebirds will migrate into a head wind, I know they are stronger flyers but I still would have thought they would wait until they get the more favourable West to NW winds, or I suppose very calm conditions if they are ready to move.

Have you ever noted what triggers them to move even if in a head wind or in less than favourable conditions.

Just the time is right?
They’ve had enough fattening up and move anyway?
Or maybe they sense that the upper winds are favourable as they tend to migrate higher aloft, like in the 5,000 to 10,000 foot range?