Birds on the move again

Birds on the move again

National overview

Birds were on the move again across much of the Southeast, Upper Midwest and Western U.S. last night. The heaviest flights continued to be over the Upper Midwest and Eastern Plains following the passage of the most recent cold front across the middle of the country.

national composite nexrad from around 11:00pm on 8/30/13
National Composite NEXRAD from around 11:00pm on 8/30/13

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

Upper Midwest

Minnesota

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

base reflectivity image from Duluth base velocity image from Duluth

base reflectivity image from Minnesota base velocity image from Minnesota

Heavy migration again over Minnesota with light northeast winds overnight. Birds appear to have been moving due south across both radars suggesting they’ll be dispersed across the landscape this morning. Expect migrant traps around the Twin Cities and along the north and south shores of Lake Superior to be holding new birds this morning.

Wisconsin

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

base reflectivity image from green bay, wi base velocity image from green bay, wi

base reflectivity image from milwaukee base velocity image from milwaukee

base reflectivity image from la crosse, wi base velocity image from la crosse, wi

Heavy migration continued across Wisconsin last night as well, again with northeast winds pushing most of the birds inland off of Lake Michigan. Birds at high altitudes were less influenced by winds and tended to be migrating on a more NW->SE trajectory (see the La Crosse velocity loop for an extreme example of this). Given the general flight direction and northeast winds on the surface I expect inland migrant traps to be best this morning. For instance, Pheasant Branch in Middleton should see a noticeable bump in density and diversity today.

Iowa & Illinois

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

base reflectivity image from chicago, il base velocity image from chicago, il
base reflectivity image from davenport, ia base velocity image from davenport, ia

Heavy migration made its way down into Iowa and Illinois this morning as well. See the Wisconsin description for general patterns. I expect inland hotspots around Chicago, such as Palos Woods, to be hopping this morning.

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


One response to “Birds on the move again”

  1. While not necessary part of your coverage area, today was the first multi-warbler day I’ve had at our farm in Ohio so far this fall: Magnolia (3), Wilson’s (1), Chestnut-sided (1), and a very nice male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Seemed like Blue Jays and flickers were on the move this morning also. Congratulations on the new job, seems like you might enjoy that sort of work.

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