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.
Well, things have finally thinned out a bit. Given the all-out marathon of good migration conditions that had persisted for the better part of ten nights, I’m not complaining… we could use a break. Winds have finally turned around to the southwest over most of the mid-Atlantic, and will persist to strengthen out of the west and southwest throughout today and tomorrow, and possibly through Friday. That said, the radar did indicate a pulse of birds entering New Jersey overnight last night, with the highest activity visible on the NYC and Fort Dix radars. The Dover radar, on the other hand, showed very little southbound traffic since winds had already switched by sunset over the Delmarva. That pattern suggests that more birds have entered the state than had left overnight, so expect to see some more birds around at your local fall hotspot this morning. Here I go with my broken record…
The Sandy Hook buoy is, once again, reading WNW at 4 kts, and given the bird activity leaving eastern NY last night, I would expect another day of migrants at The Hook this morning. The Cape May Ferry buoy is reading no-wind, which means that any birds engaged in morning flight today will probably be all over the place and not concentrated right along the bayshore where the count is located. With southwest winds on tap for later today and the next few days, we can only figure something interesting will show up at this hotspot for fall vagrants.
Otherwise birds will be dispersed across the landscape today with little concentration in any one area. So if you have the luxury of doing some birding today, your best bet will be to head for the fall migrant trap near you.
There is some interesting weather on the horizon, and when I get a free moment later today I’ll post about it.
Until then, Good Birding!
David
p.s. One last thing- the Cape May Hawkwatch officially begins today- so if you find yourself down this way, stop by and say hello to our returning research staff member Melissa Roach, along with our team of naturalists whose names I will be sure to learn in short-order! (correction: Now we can ALL learn their names! http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/)
2 responses to “The gates close, but not before a few more squeak into NJ”
Take a look at the radar off Hatteras just now (around 9 pm). Looks like a lot of birds got up and moved as of sunset.
Yup- you’re right! Birds are moving over the southern Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast, and look at the mid-Great Lakes region! It’s Going Off! That’s a good sign of things to come for us… right on time!