Well, Earl cleared out of here with little fanfare last night, and northwest winds built in behind it in an apparent farewell sendoff. 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.

These radar images are a little less straightforward to read than previous nights, simply because the winds were so strong and there still appears to be plenty of “stuff” in the atmosphere. Therefore, filtering all the other “stuff” can be quite difficult. In general, migration was heaviest along the central and Mississippi flyways, moderate in the southeastern US and mid-Atlantic, and slower around the eastern Great Lakes and northeastern US (where winds were strong and due west or southwest). For New Jersey this meant that more birds were moving out of the state than were coming in via central NY or eastern PA.

Looking at the NJ radar, though, it is clear that birds were migrating and that they were being blown considerably off course to the east. Expect coastal migrant traps to produce birds this morning, and expect birds to be returning to land for several hours after sunrise. The Cape May Ferry Terminal buoy is reading NW winds at 9kts, while the one at Sandy Hook is reading NW at 19kts (strong, but good). Windy conditions may make it hard to find birds today, but I have no doubt that the Locust Grove at Sandy Hook will be a good place to see birds coming in off the water. Similarly, the morning flight at Higbee’s should be hopping this morning, although the wind has the potential to keep the birds moving down low… but we’ll just have to see about that… (update: the bayshore is just too windy… inland or east coast sites might be better bets today. Find a windbreak!)

Good Birding

David