National Overview

As a series of cold fronts march in from the west, conditions on the east side of the front continue to favor moderate to heavy migration. The snapshot below shows the heaviest migration last night continued to be over the Southeastern U.S. and stretching up along the Appalachians and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. Right along the frontal boundary in the Upper Midwest you can again see another moderate flight reaching northeastern Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Something interesting as well is the strong migration signal over South Texas. I say interesting, because I just looked at the latest image from this morning (~5:30am Central Time) and migration continues to be heavy over Brownsville with many birds appearing to slam into this strong storm system. Fallout conditions are expected for South Texas this morning wherever the frontal boundary intersects the heavy migration. Okay, let’s dig in a little bit…

Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am this morning

New Jersey (Mid-Atlantic)

Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

It’s really so interesting to watch how migration plays out across the Mid-Atlantic, since so much of where birds end up is weather-dependent on account of the unique orientation of the landscape. Looking at both radar loops I can see birds clearly taking the western route across the mouths of the Chesapeake and Delaware rivers. Birds don’t want to end up over water, and so the primary goal for these nocturnal migrants is to stay inland as much as possible, following this ancient landmass up into the Northeastern U.S. and beyond. The effect this has on birding conditions in New Jersey is pretty clear. The bulk of these migrants will miss the southern half of New Jersey (and the eastern part of the Delmarva Peninsula). Birds are essentially following the I-95 corridor with potential for new birds this morning lying on either side of this artificial line. Clearly birds would rather not spend the day on the highway, so picking a piece of good habitat within this zone is the goal for today. Garret Mountain, the classic spring migrant trap, is within range and should be a good option. Sandy Hook, currently under east winds, will probably not be the best bet today. Keep an eye (and ear) out for arrivals of southern breeders as they don’t necessarily follow the ‘rules’ I mentioned previously. Even after several nights of sub-optimal migration, breeders may show up on territory ‘unexpectedly’. A few turns around Belleplain State Forest this morning may reveal little, but it might also result in an early record for some of the locals returning from their tropical haunts.

Wisconsin (Upper Midwest)

Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

The latest cold front may be banging on our door, but the birds appeared just as happy to hitch a ride on the associated southerly flow. Both radars showed moderate levels of nocturnal migration last night which continued into Northeastern Wisconsin by morning (according to the Green Bay radar, not pictured). The first of the precipitation can be seen moving over La Crosse during the night, but birds didn’t miss a beat suggesting that precipitation was either very light or moved through fast enough for them to tolerate it. As with the last two nights migration was on a very typical SSW->NNE trajectory and birds appear to be dispersed across the landscape this morning. Looking at the current radar for the region it appears that this cold front has faded out (for us at least, farther south is another story) and so I wouldn’t expect much in terms of concentration potential from this system today. It’ll be interesting to see what new birds do show up, though, as plenty appear to have moved into the state overnight. More of the same? or something new? Let’s get out there and find out!

 

Good Birding

David

P.S. Please consider eBirding your results and posting a link to your eBird checklist here (below, in the comment section). If you’re on Facebook, please consider posting your migration results to the BirdCast post on the eBird Facebook page. Here’s a link to the latest BirdCast forecast: http://www.facebook.com/pages/eBird/79757134387