Finally, some influx into the state! Last night the winds were in our favor, blowing a steady SSW after sunset and continuing from the SW through early this morning, and eventually switching to NW after the frontal passage. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 5:00am today.
Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Migration was evident all across the Mid-Atlantic as a cold front pushed down and over our region last night. Winds started off out of the SSW and maintained a southwesterly component past midnight, soon after which the front crossed the region, effectively shutting down migration with heavy thunderstorms and strong northwesterly winds. Because of this shutdown, expect much of this migratory front to have landed in New Jersey, and local densities to have increased markedly this morning. Diversity should remain similar to previous days, with the possibility of adding a few new species typical of the Eastern Flyway in April (LA Waterthrush, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, etc.).
Best bets this morning will be Sandy Hook (given the strong SW component to the wind during peak migration), with inland sites such as Garret Mountain also holding good numbers of birds. Because of precipitation shutting down migration, if you experienced any heavy rain last night you might want to check your local patch as well for “fallout birds”.
More birds are on the way, as migration has been heavy in the Southeastern US, and another front will help deliver the first of them to our area by the weekend. Keep an eye on the forecast on Birdcapemay.org for up-to-date weather interpretations, and make sure to come back here and let us know what you’re seeing on the ground!
Good Birding
David
One response to “Heavy migration into Jersey”
On the ground observations at Duke Farms definitely suggest short distance movement into the Somerset County Area. Diversity, as expected, did not change at all but several species saw significant increases:
Eastern Phoebes- approx 50 tallied in 2 hours
Tree Swallows- flock on the resevoir up to 75 from 20, with 12 rough wings mixed in
RC Kinglets- a dozen individuals, up from 1
GC Kinglets
Song Sparrows, plus a few fields..decrease in white throateds
Robins..moderate movement of robins
etc.
I’m guessing the early thunderstorms (around ten o’clock here I believe) didn’t give birds from anywhere further afield than South Central NJ or Eastern PA a chance to move into the region. If that storm had occurred later, ie- before dawn, it seems like we’d have a chance at a LA Waterthrush, nashville, gnatcatcher, or one of the other species that have been holed up in the MD/DC/Chesapeake area these last few days. Oh well, next push! Reports from SE NJ and Cape May will be interesting.