Yesterday we watched the latest cold front march eastward, transitioning surface and upper-level winds from southwest to northwest. As expected this opened the migration floodgates once again, and it looks like the door will remain open for at least another night or two. 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.
Despite the widespread migration event, parts of the northeastern US have yet to experience optimal migration conditions. Last night appears to have been no exception, as strong westerly winds never quite gave way to more ideal northwesterlies along the eastern shore of lake Ontario and across New York State. That can be seen in the regional composite where central and western NY as well as western PA all show considerably less migration density than stations further north and east. That should change tonight, though, as winds over Binghamton and Albany turn northwesterly and lighten up a bit. Therefore, expect an even bigger push out of that region tonight.
As for the mid-Atlantic, the NJ and NY radars all show considerable densities heading into and out of the region on a strong NW->SE trajectory. Good numbers of birds could be seen heading down from New England and launching off of Long Island over the Atlantic, which should result in birds coming ashore along the Jersey coast this morning. Additionally, birds flying over New Jersey were being concentrated at the coast, which will surely benefit coastal migrant traps at first light. Surface winds are out of the WNW this morning at 10 – 20kts (with higher gusts) so pick a location where the winds will benefit you rather than hamper your ability to bird. I’ll be at the Zeiss Optics Morning Flight, at Higbee’s Beach, where northwest winds seem to favor the viewing of migrating birds- but the conditions will also be optimal for a morning flight at Sandy Hook, where I have less of a handle on the best vantage point under heavy winds (if any of you seasoned ‘Hookers have a tip- post it here!).
Otherwise, inland sites should see turnover of birds today, and those which provide shelter from the winds may experience good birding conditions today. Since wind speed and direction was the only weather factor with concentration potential, expect birds to be dispersed widely across the landscape except for at coastal locations, especially those with a south-facing geography. I’m off to the field, but I’d love to come back later today and read about your experiences, so please come back and let us know what you saw!
Good Birding
David
3 responses to “The next big push”
Wheelabrator Refuge in Gloucester County first, then the NP dredge spoils. Some stuff in flight back into the wind – why? Leads back to the river. Most stuff was when I hit areas out of the wind and buskwacked a lot. Good variety. Low numbers again.
15 BLUE JAYS
1 VEERY
1 WOOD THRUSH
1 BROWN THRASHER
3 WARBLING VIROES – all singing.
1 PHILADELPHIA VIREO
1 RED-EYED VIREO
1 NORTHERN PARULA
1 MAGNOLIA WARBLER
1 BLACK-THROATED BLUE
2 BLACK-THROATED GREENS
3 BLACK and WHITE WARBLERS
2 AMERICAN REDSTARTS
1 CONNECTICUT WARBLER
5 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
1 WILSON’S WARBLER
From Kunkletown, PA:
I heard very few nocturnal flight calls this morning; the few included Bobolink, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Swainson’s Thrush.
I decided to count birds during “morning flight” here in the yard, and came up with 180 birds of 22 species.
Here are some morning flight highlights:
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Bay-breasted Warbler 9
Blackpoll Warbler 6
American Redstart 1
Hooded Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 2
Bobolink 5
Purple Finch 2
Corey
from DeKorte Park in the meadowlands…
I had Northern Waterthrushes seemingly everywhere. 10-12