With so many birds in the system right now it’s hard not to have some level of migration unless conditions are terrible for nocturnal flight. Last night the winds turned light and southerly over most of the region but birds still took advantage of the clear and stable atmosphere. 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.

As you can see from the regional composite, compared to two nights ago this event was more ‘interior’, with birds originating primarily from within New York State. The majority of birds throughout NY and NJ were heading NNE->SSW overnight, which would in turn favor inland migrant traps this morning. Places like Cold Brook Preserve in Hunterdon Co. should be good today given the number of sparrows on the move right now.  Cape May, while not on the main axis of this flight, should still produce good birds today even if densities are down from the last two days.

Tonight expect winds again to turn northwesterly resulting in another late fall flight into the region. Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted.

Good Birding

David