Last night the conditions were perfect for a big flight, and the birds reacted as expected. Here’s the radar form 6:00pm last night through 6:00am this morning.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Oh what a night! The radars really lit up after sunset last night, and the reflectivity images indicate that heavy migration continued unabated through 2am this morning. After 2am densities decreased rapidly, and only a few birds were still being picked up by the radar at 6am. The velocity images indicate that most migration was on a N–>S trajectory. Birds leaving Long Island, NY were heading more SW, as to be expected, and should have arrived in high densities along the central NJ coast this morning. Given the NNE winds offshore, I’d expect that most of these birds would continue inland.
For Cape May things are looking great for the Bay Shore, and very good for Higbee’s beach. The winds over Atlantic City (airport) this morning were straight out of the north, so the densities of birds over Higbee’s will be dependent on geography rather than displacement by winds (Higbee’s is great when there is a slight westerly component to the wind).
Good Birding
David
3 responses to “Big flight over the entire Eastern Flyway”
Wow! I hit a few spots in Gloucester County along the Delaware River. With the NE winds from at least 3:00AM when I checked the weather channel, I was expecting great things! And was not disappointed. Well above average diversity, but low numbers. That was strange with the low numbers. Anyway, some totals:
RUBY-THROATED HUMMERS – 2
HOUSE WRENS – 10
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS – 4
SWAINSON’S THRUSH – 1
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO – 1
WARBLING VIREOS – 8
PHILADELPHIA VIREO – 2
RED-EYED VIREO – 1
BLUE-WINGED WARBLER – 1
TENNESSEE WARBLER – 1
PARULA – 1
YELLOW WARBLER – 1
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER – 1
MAGNOLIA WARBLER – 2
BLACK-THROATED BLUE – 1
BLACK-THROATED GREEN – 1
BLACKBURNIAN – 1
PRAIRIE WARBLER – 1
BLACK and WHITE – 2
REDSTART – 6
OVENBIRD – 1
MOURNING WARBLER – 1
COMMON YELLOWTHROAT – 1
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK – 6
INDIGO BUNTING – 3
GOLDFINCHES – uncountable
Strong neo-tropical migration at Chimney Rock today – 16 species of warbler, multiples of many – Bay-breasted, Tennessee, and Wilson’s being highlights.
Slow hawk watching generally on NE winds, but enlivened by 7 Bald Eagles, including the first bird of the season!
Thanks for the reports you two! Simon- will you be spending much time at Chimney Rock? I would really love to get regular reports from there, as I know it’s one of the best interior locations in the fall.
Thanks again for posting!