National Overview
Birds continue to stream up through the middle of the country as a series of surface lows churn southerly winds over the region. The low over Texas proved to be the most precipitous and may have caused some fallout conditions along the Texas and Louisiana coasts this morning. Farther north the atmosphere was quite a bit more stable and migration was widespread with birds heading up as far as Central Minnesota. On both coasts migration was apparent but muted in comparison with the interior.
National Composite NEXRAD from around midnight on 5/11/12
Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am (central time) this morning
Since I will be publishing “as I go” each morning you may see some incomplete posts throughout the early morning hours. Don’t worry- it’s coming!
Mid Atlantic
Delaware & New Jersey
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Light migration occurred over the Mid Atlantic as upper level and surface winds were out of the NW for most of the night. Expect this to change some by tonight as surface winds switch to more westerly. Expect a few birds to have moved around today but no major concentrations, other than what was present yesterday, are expected.
Upper Midwest
Iowa & Illinois
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Birds were moving up through Iowa and Illinois last night with the densest migration over western Iowa. The Davenport radar did show a strong migration signal with most birds heading due north throughout the night, while over Illinois things were still a bit muted given the sub optimal conditions and birds were heading on a SE->NW trajectory. Expect some new birds throughout Iowa with the best locations being the tried-and-true spring migrant traps. Illinois should see some new birds and shifting densities, but will have to wait until tonight for the big push into the region.
Wisconsin
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Migration up through Wisconsin followed a similar path as above with the heaviest movements in the western half of the state, closest to the approaching front. Heavy migration over La Crosse puts more birds up into the northwest part of the state, while influx from Iowa should replace many of these birds for the lower Mississippi region. Lighter migration out of eastern Illinois and up the east side of Wisconsin means that many birds are simply moving north and out of the southeastern part of the state. Expect some shifting of birds across the state with highest densities in the west and known spring migrant traps holding the most birds. Things should ramp up for Wisconsin tomorrow as the front pushes east so be sure to keep an eye on the radar tonight!
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.
For migration updates in other regions check:
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell <- NEW!
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
Arizona – Words About Birds by Tim Schreckengost <- NEW!
New Mexico – Albuquerque Birding by Matt O’Donnell <- NEW!
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US – eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird
