Here are the radar images from all three nights:
9/6/04
On the night leading into Labor Day, we do see a small amount of migration lifting off after sunset and moving south through the night.
9/7/04
On the next night we see some “noise” just after sunset, but no detectable migration. In the early morning you can see some precipitation push into the area heading in a NW direction, and indication of the general wind flow.
9/8/04
Last night we do see some visible migration concentrated over the Delaware river. Prevailing winds were light out of the SE as can be seen by the precipitation, yet this light movement of birds headed south nonetheless.
Sunrise 9/8/04
I’m throwing this one in just so you can see, once again, how the central flyway is cranking while we sit high and dry in the northeast. Ahhh…look at Frances, WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL HER TO GET MOVING!!!
Synopsis:
Birds are moving on the eastern flyway, although conditions have been less than optimal with a cold front well to our west, and the remnants of hurricane Frances to our South. Frances should interact with the cold front and speed through our area over the next day or two, then allowing the front to pass over New Jersey sometime this weekend. Forecast models predict a fair amount of precipitation associated with the approaching front, as well as a good push of cooler, drier air behind it. “Cooler and drier” should tip you off that it’s coming from the North (likely NW), which means that as this front clears, we could see the next big push of migrants into our area. The best case scenario (for birding, as I’m sure the birds have an a different opinion) would be if the front came through our area early in the evening and stopped either on the coast or just offshore, so that the skies above central NJ are clear, but the storms lingered on the coast. This would allow birds to move over NJ until hitting the frontal edge, forcing them to land at the coast. We’ll see how things shape up over the next few days. I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers
David