I should immediately add the disclaimer that although the floodgates have been left wide open across most of the country, the barn door over New Jersey is still quite stuck in the closed position due to the stationary front to our south. Another disclaimer: the radar appears to have a little indigestion, and more than half of the radar images were dropped due to technical problems (at the radar source, out of my control). With that, I give you the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am this morning.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
More migration was evident across all three flyways last night, all the way up into the southern Mid-Atlantic. A stationary front across the Carolinas acted as a barrier to any major flight into the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeastern US, the gradual effect of which was quite apparent on the three local radars. Some birds could be seen moving from south to north (a bit off-axis from the typical SW->NE trajectory, and likely due to the 10kt winds at 3000 feet, blowing out of the SE last night) over the Dover station, while less were apparent over the Fort Dix radar. By the time we get to the NYC station, little to no birds appeared to be migrating. Not surprisingly, the winds over New York at the time of departure last night were out of the north.
Birding conditions should remain fair today, with little in the way of new birds except maybe along the northwestern Delaware Bay shore. Due to the easterly component to the wind, New Jersey as a whole will have missed any considerable influx of birds. It looks like PA, though, will have gotten the brunt of this influx of birds, so if you find yourself near a spring hotspot in PA or southern NY state (along the PA/NY border), do yourself a favor and see what’s around! (and when you’re done, do us all a favor and let us know what you saw!).
For the rest of us, right now the models indicate that it’ll be the weekend before our next big push; but a small flight is still possible along the way… I’ll keep you posted as things develop.
Good Birding
David