National Overview
Last night’s migration zone expanded a little farther east from the night before, as conditions improve throughout this region. Expect this to continue, albeit slowly, as the latest series of fronts march their way eastward.
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.
All’s (still) quiet on the eastern front, though. No new influx of birds last night so expect to see little changes on the landscape this morning. Look for birds moving into optimal habitat and for zugunruhe to build in the birds that are around… they’re just waiting for the next train outta Dodge! Keep an eye to the sky for things like Swallow-tailed Kite (seen in Cape May yesterday) and offshore for the Northern Gannet show, etc.
Wisconsin (Upper Midwest)
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Unlike the Mid-Atlantic U.S., Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest picked up some new birds this morning in-between bands of light precipitation. As a low pressure system moved into the region, southeast winds on the east side of the associated front appears to have triggered migration over the southern half of the state early this morning (heaviest across Southwest WI). Expect new birds throughout the southern half with less changeover evident as you move north (very little migration was evident on the Green Bay radar, and none was apparent over Duluth, MN). Birds were heading NW at the beginning of the migration event, but turned more northerly as the winds became more southerly. Expect these birds to be dispersed across the landscape today with the best bets being known spring migrant traps. Precipitation seems to have petered out where it did exist last night, but if you had a localized shower early this morning you might want to poke your head out and see if any birds dropped into your local patch. Otherwise I expect to hear about more of the expected early spring migrants and probably a few more early records of Pine Warbler and building Yellow-rump numbers. Remember, this website is only as good as the feedback it gets from YOU, so please report back with your observations so we can better understand how migration on the radar is reflected on the landscape.
Good Birding,
David
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