The radar was on fire last night, with heavy migration across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. Here’s the radar from 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.
Southwest winds and clear skies made for optimal migration conditions last night, and birds clearly took advantage of it. Heavy migration was evident from Caribou, Maine, all the way down into the Carolinas, with the majority of birds heading on a NW->SE trajectory for most of the night and morning. Surface winds were calm across New Jersey, but due to the westerly component to the wind at 3000 feet, expect a nice morning flight at Higbee’s beach today. With no weather to concentrate birds, the best locations will be the tried-and-true migration hotspots throughout the region. It’s going to be a beautiful day; why not go birding?!
Have a good one,
David
3 responses to “Big flight on southwest winds should favor the coast this morning”
Gloucester County – spots along the Delaware River. Alas a late start though. But new birds around that I haven’t seen in good numbers. Especially Floodgates Rd.
Anyway, like I said, too late a start for any solid numbers, but
SWAMP SPARROWS – many more around than usual.
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET
CEDAR WAXWINGS – around in very good numbers.
Sandy Hook this morning. It was evident that most of the birds from yesterday left last night and there were no replacements for them. Northern parulas were still around in numbers and 5 Baltimore Orioles in one tree was nice. Only stayed for 2 hrs before leaving. Time to wait for the next NW wind cold front.
Thanks for posting you two. Wendy, yeah, I saw that the winds were NE over Sandy Hook this morning, always a bad sign.
Somerset was hopping this morning, with several N. Parulas, Am. Redstarts, Maggies, Black-and-whites, Prairies, Common Yellowthroats and the like. A single Nashville Warbler was a fun addition, and non-warbler migrants included Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Indigo Bunting, Red-eyed Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Scarlet Tanager.