National overview
Southeasterly flow from Texas to Duluth triggered some much anticipated migration into the Upper Midwest last night. The Pacific Coast, as well, experienced some moderate to heavy migration as winds over the region slackened yesterday.
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.
Southeast winds across Wisconsin and Minnesota brought birds into the region last night. You can actually see only light migration over Duluth in the early part of the night, followed by a significant influx of birds into the early morning hours. Birds were moving over the Twin Cities throughout the night last night and into this morning as some precipitation moved in over the area. Birders in Eastern Minnesota should be out today looking for birds; while I don’t expect any fallout conditions, there are new FOY birds throughout the region this morning.
Migration was evident over all three of the Wisconsin NEXRAD stations last night, with heaviest movement over La Crosse and hence over the Mississippi floodplain. Bird movement was generally from the SE->NW meaning that birds will be well-distributed over land throughout Wisconsin. Therefore I would not expect any major concentrations at any one location, but I do expect new FOY birds throughout the state. Mississippi River hotspots such as Wyalusing State Park are definitely worth a check today for some early spring arrivals.
Iowa & Illinois
Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Lots of birds moving over northern IA and IL last night, and again, the highest densities were in the western part of the region along the Mississippi River. See above for general expectations.
We may see some precipitation across the region today but don’t let that keep you inside; there are birds to be found in your neck of the woods!
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