Birds are seen moving over the Fort DIX (KDIX) radar just after sunset and continuing on into the early morning hours when storms completely obscure the image. Judging by the velocity image, since the winds within the storms were primarily from the southwest, it’s plausible to suggest that birds continued migrating until around 2:00am, when storm precipitation became heavy. Based on this interpretation, I would expect central and northern New Jersey, and specifically Garret Mountain and Sandy Hook, to have the best chances of a fallout. The Dover radar (DOX) shows virtually no migration, although the storms dominate the radar echos early on, therefore obscuring any birds that might enter throughout the night. Again, since southerly winds dominate during the frontal passage, it’s possible that some of the birds leaving Virginia got “sucked up” into this system on a tailwind. It’s probably more likely though, that Delaware is experiencing fallout conditions and these birds will be on the next push into New Jersey once the front clears and conditions for migration improve.
Good (and safe!) Storm Birding
Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and 1 hour for the regional composite
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2 responses to “Riders on the Storm”
Hello all,
An early morning swim at Garret Mtn. was quite unfruitful. Very low densities of birds throughout the park. A handful of Pines, Palms and a couple of Fox Sparrows were the highlights. Time for some storm birding at Round Valley and Spruce Run. See you out there.
Bruce McWhorter
This off the NY list:
Subject: Central Park, NYC 4/14
From: Tom Fiore
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:01:55 -0400
Saturday, 14 April 2007 – Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
The biggest push (for species diversity) of the year to date-
many of the species noted below were seen by observers
other than myself – some by small groups, some by many.
Highlighted are some of the migrants that have increased
a bit (or first-of-year reports for Central Park = f.o.y.). The
Peregrine reported is just as, or more likely a city resident.
Red-breasted Merganser is uncommon in Central Park. A
Brown Thrasher (1 or 2) over-wintered in the park, as did a
low number of other semi-hardy species: ie, Hermit Thrush.
The full list (as far as I know of) for Saturday only, 14 April:
Common Loon (breeding plumage, lingering on Reservoir)
Pied-billed Grebe (one lingering on Reservoir)
Double-crested Cormorant (multiple observations)
Great Blue Heron (five, seemingly all fly-overs in early a.m.)
Great Egret (multiple sightings, including east-west fly-bys)
Snowy Egret (first-of-year reports, seen at Park’s north end)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (several adults at The Meer)
Turkey Vulture (fly-over reported), Canada Goose
Wood Duck (10+ early a.m. fly-bys, headed north)
Gadwall, American Black Duck, Mallard
Northern Shoveler (some lingering on the C.P. Reservoir)
Bufflehead (some lingering on the C.P. Reservoir)
Red-breasted Merganser (1 male lingering on The Meer)
Ruddy Duck (some lingering on the Reservoir & The Meer)
Osprey (1 fly-over reported)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (possibly 2; one seen hunting in C.P.)
Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon (N. end report, presumed fly-over)
American Coot (few, on the Central Park Reservoir)
Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker
N. [Yellow-shafted] Flicker (multiple; fly-bys in a.m.)
Eastern Phoebe (low numbers but more than before)
Blue Jay, American Crow, Tree Swallow (probable)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (several sightings)
Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (f.-o.y.)
Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing
Pine Warbler (1 male seen by many observers, Meer)
Palm Warbler (low numbers, but in multiple locations)
Louisiana Waterthrush (The Loch; several observers)
Eastern Towhee (a slight increase in numbers evident)
Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow (few, lingering), Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow (many now)
Dark-eyed [Slate-colored] Junco, Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch
American Goldfinch, House Sparrow .
Good birding,
Tom Fiore
N.Y. City