After several nights of poor migration conditions, the floodgates finally reopened. Here’s the radar from 6:00pm last night through 6:00am this morning.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
The low pressure system, which brought so much rain to the region over the last two days, finally made it’s way out over the Atlantic allowing high pressure to build in behind it. Northwest winds and clear starry skies dominated the region at sunset last night, triggering an impressive late October flight over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Overnight the winds turned from NW to N and finally to NE, where they remain this morning. Expect inland migrant traps to have the greatest diversity of birds this morning, with sparrows most likely a major player in this flight. Coastal locations will see less activity due to the easterly winds, with the exception being Cape May, which has the added benefit of being a migration funnel due to its geography. For Cape May, though, the majority of birds will likely be pushed to the west, along the Delaware Bay shore.
Where is everybody? I have noticed very few people posting their sightings this fall. Wherever you are, I hope you find your way back, as your observation are what keep this site going!
Good Birding
David
2 responses to “Heavy Migration Over the Eastern Flyway”
7:45am – 10:15am, morning flight from Reed’s Beach:
4 Red-bellied Woodpeckers (all apparent migrants)
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
~20 N. Flickers
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
~20 Eastern Bluebirds
2,130 Am. Robins
~20 Am. Pipits (southbound)
~40 Cedar Waxwings
873 Yellow-rumped Warblers
3 Chipping Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
3 Bobolinks
175 Red-winged Blackbirds (always hard to tell here if these are migrating or just heading out for the day…but most were in tight bunches moving north along the treeline this morning)
~35 E. Meadowlarks
1 Rusty Blackbird
1 Purple Finch
30 House Finches
90 Am. Goldfinches
Also 10 Common Loons, 7 Harriers, 35 Sharpies, 525 D-c Cormorants and a Snipe.
We went to Big Brook and Thompson Park in Monmouth County. We discovered an Ash-throated Flycatcher at Thompson Park and also saw a Nashville Warbler. Big Brook had a Nashville W. and Fox Sparrow. Both spots held very little variety and very low numbers of birds. So despite the Ash-throated FC one would say for Monmouth County anyway, birding was extremely slow. Birds definitely kept going farther south overnight.