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

With the high southerly winds aloft and still a fair amount of “aerial plankton” in the atmosphere (pollen, dust, insects, etc.) a quick view of the radar might suggest some bird activity. In fact, there is a little southbound signal at the periphery of the NJ radar images, raising the possibility that a few birds are moving south. I’m still not entirely convinced of this, though. Regardless, the southbound reflectivity at high altitudes represents a tiny fraction of the radar sample space, and therefore the detection of these birds would be highly unlikely this morning. Nope, for the most part expect some local shifting of birds, but otherwise no new migrants arriving en masse. Now onto storm birding.

It looks like Earl will bring northeast winds to New Jersey as it passes parallel to the coast. The highest winds and rainfall should occur around midday, and taper off through the afternoon, with the wind then turning northwest and remaining so into tomorrow morning. Storm birding should be best while the winds are northeast, as that would be the most likely direction to bring birds toward land. High and low tides will be best bets for finding resting terns on the beaches, so find yourself a nice spot out of the wind to scan the shoreline around those times. You can find your local tide tables at SaltwaterTides.com.

With northwest winds on tap tonight for New Jersey and the northeast coast, we could see a push of migrants into the area overnight. Unfortunately the winds over most of the northeast will still be out of the west-southwest tonight, limiting any major influx into the region tomorrow. Still, it doesn’t take a whole lot to jump-start the birding conditions on the ground, so check the twitter feed tonight for updates, and check back tomorrow morning for the whole run-down.

In the meantime, Good Birding, and be SAFE out there today!

David

In the meantime, birds are around and they’re most likely moving into more optimal foraging habitat- so head for your favorite  birding location today and see what’s around.

Good Birding
David

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

Well, things have finally thinned out a bit. Given the all-out marathon of good migration conditions that had persisted for the better part of ten nights, I’m not complaining… we could use a break. Winds have finally turned around to the southwest over most of the mid-Atlantic, and will persist to strengthen out of the west and southwest throughout today and tomorrow, and possibly through Friday. That said, the radar did indicate a pulse of birds entering New Jersey overnight last night, with the highest activity visible on the NYC and Fort Dix radars. The Dover radar, on the other hand, showed very little southbound traffic since winds had already switched by sunset over the Delmarva. That pattern suggests that more birds have entered the state than had left overnight, so expect to see some more birds around at your local fall hotspot this morning. Here I go with my broken record…

The Sandy Hook buoy is, once again, reading WNW at 4 kts, and given the bird activity leaving eastern NY last night, I would expect another day of migrants at The Hook this morning. The Cape May Ferry buoy is reading no-wind, which means that any birds engaged in morning flight today will probably be all over the place and not concentrated right along the bayshore where the count is located. With southwest winds on tap for later today and the next few days, we can only figure something interesting will show up at this hotspot for fall vagrants.

Otherwise birds will be dispersed across the landscape today with little concentration in any one area. So if you have the luxury of doing some birding today, your best bet will be to head for the fall migrant trap near you.

There is some interesting weather on the horizon, and when I get a free moment later today I’ll post about it.

Until then, Good Birding!

David

p.s. One last thing- the Cape May Hawkwatch officially begins today- so if you find yourself down this way, stop by and say hello to our returning research staff member Melissa Roach, along with our team of naturalists whose names I will be sure to learn in short-order! (correction: Now we can ALL learn their names! http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/)

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

High Pressure… it’s the autumn gift that keeps on giving. As you can see from the regional composite, birds took to the sky once more last night under the influence of light to moderate northwesterly winds (at 3000-feet). Surface winds were all over the place at sunset last night, with some out of the south, and others out of the west. It just goes to show that you have to check the winds at altitude in order to predict a migration event… somehow the birds seem to know what’s going on up there! Judging from the radar, migration was heaviest over the coastal states with densities decreasing as you move westward. The overall direction of migration appears to have been NW->SE for the first half of the night, switching to more N->S into the morning hours (and NE->SW over NJ, which is also the orientation of the state itself). Winds at the Sandy Hook buoy are reading WNW at 4kts this morning, while Cape May is reading due north. This general wind pattern suggests good morning conditions along the north coast, as well as another generally good morning for fall migrant traps across the state. Chimney Rock, in Central NJ, should have some woodland birds making their way down the ridge today, and the Cape May morning flight should also continue to produce new birds and great photo opportunities this morning. On that note, be sure to check out the awesome photos and essays on the CMBO blog:

http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/

and the tallies from the seasonal research (rife with photos, as well):

http://cmboviewfromthefield.blogspot.com/

Okay- now get out there and bird!

Cheers,

David

Good Birding,

David

Good Birding!
David