Here we go again (and again, and again, and again…)! Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 5:00am this morning.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
High Pressure… it’s the autumn gift that keeps on giving. As you can see from the regional composite, birds took to the sky once more last night under the influence of light to moderate northwesterly winds (at 3000-feet). Surface winds were all over the place at sunset last night, with some out of the south, and others out of the west. It just goes to show that you have to check the winds at altitude in order to predict a migration event… somehow the birds seem to know what’s going on up there! Judging from the radar, migration was heaviest over the coastal states with densities decreasing as you move westward. The overall direction of migration appears to have been NW->SE for the first half of the night, switching to more N->S into the morning hours (and NE->SW over NJ, which is also the orientation of the state itself). Winds at the Sandy Hook buoy are reading WNW at 4kts this morning, while Cape May is reading due north. This general wind pattern suggests good morning conditions along the north coast, as well as another generally good morning for fall migrant traps across the state. Chimney Rock, in Central NJ, should have some woodland birds making their way down the ridge today, and the Cape May morning flight should also continue to produce new birds and great photo opportunities this morning. On that note, be sure to check out the awesome photos and essays on the CMBO blog:
http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/
and the tallies from the seasonal research (rife with photos, as well):
http://cmboviewfromthefield.blogspot.com/
Okay- now get out there and bird!
Cheers,
David
3 responses to “Another night, another flight”
Quite a few thrushes pre-dawn–mostly Veery. I didn’t get to do much birding this morning, but lots of scattered warblers (BTB, BTG mostly). Also high numbers of kingbirds.
Not too much at the National Park dredge spoils in Gloucester County, NJ this morning. I thought at first not many birds because of this 9 straight days of NW winds. Or whatever we are up to! But after reading David’s blog, maybe it’s because of that overall direction of migration he writes about. Anyway, here are the numbers:
1 YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO
1 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD
2 BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS – my first up here this NW wind event. I don’t know why so rare here in late August.
1 NORTHERN PARULA
1 CAPE MAY WARBLER
2 BLACK and WHITE WARBLERS – both females.
3 AMERICAN REDSTARTS
2 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
1 WILSON’S WARBLER
15 BOBOLINKS – overhead. Heading north again.
well, the Higbee dike was slow today. Birds were definitely moving through, but it was more of a trickle than a flow. I’m assuming Tom will post a tally on the research blog later this afternoon, so check there for the full list. I left around 7:30am and was treated to a returning Baird’s Sandpiper, a goodly number of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a smattering of warblers, mostly N Waterthrush, Am. Redstart and some single-digit tallies of assorted Parulidae.