The latest cold front has almost cleared the east coast after bringing heavy southerly winds and rain to the region over night. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 6:00am this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

The cold front that caused such a sharp wind gradient yesterday afternoon, came through like a freight train overnight and stopped any migrating birds along the way. Unfortunately (for birders) it looks like the strength of the southerly winds (30+kts in some places) was a bit much for most birds to attempt, and therefore the majority appeared not to start migration after sunset last night. The few birds that did take flight, were grounded by the approaching storms before 2am.

It’s possible that these groundings will be apparent at your local patch, though, especially if you’re in central or northeastern New Jersey. The rule of thumb is, if the rain started coming down in your area after midnight (but better if after 2am), check your local patch. Diversity should be typical of this time of year, but the numbers could be high due to the concentrating effect of the storms and shifting winds.

Your reports are always encouraged, so I look forward to hearing from you later in the day.

Good Birding

David