National overview

An approaching cold front set off a sector of migration in the Midwest last night, while most of the Plains region was under the influence of high pressure and therefore experienced little to no migration. Farther south a strong and moisture-laden low-pressure system churned over the Gulf states and brought with it north winds and little in terms of migration. The only area appearing to escape the shutdown was south Florida where birds could be seen crossing the Straits of Florida and heading up the peninsula. The Pacific Flyway appears to be open with birds moving from the AZ/Mexico border all the way into the Pacific NW. Make sure to check the links at the bottom of this post for more detailed reports from those locales. And lastly, the east coast was quiet with high pressure dominating once more.

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

Upper Midwest

Minnesota & Wisconsin

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

Migration intensity increased as you go south through Wisconsin, so while Green Bay was consistent with the Twin Cities of MN, Milwaukee and La Crosse showed considerably more activity. The upper-level (3000ft +) northwest winds forecast for last night never really materialized and so most of the movement was from the SSE->NNW. This puts birds more interior across the landscape and reduces the chance of birds piling up along the lake Michigan shoreline.

Iowa & Illinois

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

As we move south we see again that the intensity of migration continues to increase. Both Davenport IA and Chicago IL recorded high densities of migrants moving overhead in a SSE->NNW direction throughout the night and into the morning.

This is the first moderate movement of birds into the southern two-thirds of the forecast area and should mean new birds for those of you beating the bushes this morning. With no apparent concentrating mechanism at work this morning (no frontal boundary causing a fallout, no winds pushing birds to the Great Lakes shorelines, etc.) expect birds to be well dispersed this morning. Therefore hitting known spring hotspots would be the best course of action. Pheasant Branch Conservancy in Middleton; Lake Farm Park, Cherokee Marsh and Governor’s Island in Madison would be good picks for a chance at early passerine migrants. Anywhere with open water could produce some new waterfowl and/or shorebirds, which likely made up a significant portion of this migration event.

As always, woodcreeper.com depends on you to report your sightings and be our ‘eyes on the ground’, so please come back and give us an idea of how we’re doing predicting birding conditions in your neck of the woods.

Good Birding,

David

For migration updates in other regions check-

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula - The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell
New England - Tom Auer’s blog
Florida/SE - Badbirdz Reloaded by Angel and Mariel Abreu
PA/Ohio Valley - Nemesis Bird by Drew Weber
NW Ohio - Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Pac NW - Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US - eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird