Conditions were excellent last night, for a strong movement of migrants heading north from all points along the Eastern and Mississippi flyways. The Central flyway, too, was pretty active, especially along the Gulf coast and throughout Texas. It’s beginning to feel a LOT like springtime! Here’s the radar 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.
Migration was heavy across the Mid-Atlantic last night, with most birds heading on a more typical (than the previous night) trajectory of SW->NE. No weather was present today to concentrate birds in any one location, so choosing a spring migrant trap will definitely be the best bet this morning. Expect birds that arrived two days ago to begin dispersing into the landscape looking for optimal foraging habitat, and for new arrivals to concentrate at places such as the northern Delaware Bay shore, Garret Mountain, and Sandy Hook. This should mean an overall increase in bird diversity and density at most locations today. Southwest winds and high thermal activity will dominate throughout the day, which will allow for nice diurnal raptor activity throughout the region as well.
I should mention that today also kicks off the FREE NJ Audubon May Days event, being held at the brand new Hoffman Center for Conservation and Education at the Scherman-Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary in Bernardsville, NJ. This is a perfect way to see lots of birds (the center is on a great piece of birding real estate) while also experiencing live demos of radio-telemetry and bird banding, lots of hands-on activities for kids, and great food and exhibits.
Hope to see you in the field!
Good Birding
David
Posted by: David La Puma
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