Northwest winds, northwest winds, that’s all I kept reading in the forecast… well, whattayaknow, these birds got the itch and they’re going north regardless of the wind forecast! Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 8:30am this morning.
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.
The velocity image indicates that, indeed, the winds were blowing WNW across New Jersey just after sunset, but soon after you can see birds take to the sky on a SW–>NE trajectory. Migration was moderate, for the most part, but did peak out at pretty high densities around midnight. I’m assuming that the clear skies and very stable atmosphere was enough to tempt birds whose hormone levels were just screaming “GET ME UP THERE!”. Good numbers of birds were still flying early this morning, but as I walked my dog at 8:00am I could hear plenty of new birds in the yard and woods. I counted four Black-throated Green Warblers (which do not breed here) on my quick jog around the edge of the woods, and Swainson’s Thrush and Veery could be heard calling and singing respectively. All the regular breeders are back on territory, but I’m sure there are a few interesting migrants to be found around here today… and I guess that Garret Mountain, Cape May and Sandy Hook will all be great locations this morning.
Good Birding
David
P.S. Come check out my migration forecast for the Mid-Atlantic on Birdcapemay.org
Please don’t forget to become a member of the Woodcreeper/Badbirdz flock today. For more information, please check out the Become a Member post.
4 responses to “Unexpected but welcome migration”
David,
Didn’t get to spend a huge amount of time out this a.m. but you are right. Cape May was, or should I say is, quite birdy this morning. Below is the eBird list I just posted to the View from the Cape section of BirdCapeMay.org. Obviously there is a lot more out there than I was able to observe in my two hours. Also, at least two Olive-sided Flycatchers remain at Higbee. Not sure if these are birds that have remained over the last few days or new birds that have come in.
Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 5/24/08
Notes: 5486 steps = approx. 3.84 miles
Number of species: 66
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
Semipalmated Plover 1
Laughing Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Least Tern 4
Mourning Dove X
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Barred Owl 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill’s) 3
Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird X
White-eyed Vireo X
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Purple Martin 1
Tree Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 8
Carolina Wren X
House Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird 1
Veery 3
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 35
Tennessee Warbler 1
Northern Parula 2
Yellow Warbler 4
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 3
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 12
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 2
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat X
Canada Warbler 6
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Scarlet Tanager 1
Field Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Blue Grosbeak 5
Indigo Bunting X
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Orchard Oriole 3
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2
Thanks Jason!
D
Sandy Hook was likewise good on May 24! Lots of late migrants around – thrushes – we had wood thrush, veeries, Swainson’s, and gray-cheeked, in decent numbers. Likewise flycatchers – phoebe, peewee, great crested, olive sided, willow, least. Warblers – black-throated green, yellow, blackburnian, bay-breasted, black & white, redstarts (numerous), magnolias (numerous), Canada. northern waterthrush, parulas, chestnut-sided, common yellowthroat, Wilson’s. Clay-colored sparrow. The variety was superb.
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