High pressure behind the latest cold front turned the wind dial back to north/northwest last night, triggering widespread migration across most of the country east of an imaginary line between North Texas and Maine. 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.
Wow! Now that was a big flight out of the Northeast and into the Mid-Atlantic! Looking at the regional composite you can see that the density of birds leaving NY state, especially over Binghamton and Albany, was the highest we’ve seen since the flight on September 10/11. As with that huge flight, though, most of the birds were headed to the southwest, presumably picking up the ridge-and-valley landscape features and heading down the Appalachians. Given the lack of strong northwest winds, these birds were able to stay on track, and avoid being pushed too far to the east (which is always best for NJ birders, but less so for the birds). Migration over New England, especially out of Maine, was quite heavy last night, although there was some discontinuity over eastern NY which appeared to have a little too much east in the wind to make for optimal conditions. Densities out of eastern NY, then, were quite low compared to the surrounding areas. Heavy migration was apparent over New Jersey, again with most of the birds heading south/southwest on relatively light northerly winds. The Fort Dix reflectivity and velocity suggest birds being funneled down towards the Brigantine area (which is pretty much due south), while the images for the Dover radar suggest that most birds heading into south Jersey are headed for the northern Delaware Bay shore, rather than being pushed down the eastern peninsula. This combination of birds being funneled into the state, and then heading southwest as they move south, would suggest excellent birding conditions at interior hotspots this morning. Chimney Rock would be a good interior location to check out, and locations along the Delaware River should be checked as well. Cape May may not be the optimal location for density and diversity this morning, but new birds should be present there today as well, and I would guess that the morning flight will be above average at first light. Maybe I’m just being hopeful- because that’s where I’m headed right now!
Please stop back and let us know what you saw.
Good Birding
David
6 responses to “And they’re off!!”
Another good morning at the dredges spoils in Gloucester County! Not like last Sat., but nice numders and interesting diversity. And this is Sat. so I wasn’t on my first bird until 9:30AM.
1 EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE
1 YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER
1 Empi that I couldn’t id. Not even down to Trail’s – I have no idea what it was.
3 HOUSE WRENS
1 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET
ROBINS and CATBIRDS – numbers low though.
2 RED-EYED VIREOS
1 TENNESSEE WARBLER
1 NORTHERN PARULA
2 MAGNOLIA WARBLERS
1 BLACK-THROATED BLUE
2 BLACK and WHITE WARBLERS
2 AMERICAN REDSTARTS
7 OVENBIRDS – wow.
1 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH
11 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
Nada at the Great Swamp! Looked to be a good broadwing flight going on today though!
Sandy Hook was extremely quiet. Only notable was a good number of Red-breasted Nuthatches. Other than that and lots of Catbirds and Robins. Have to wait for those NW winds next time around.
Decent morning in Kunkletown, PA. Very little morning flight, but there were lots of birds in the trees.
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
1 Philadelphia Vireo
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
X Swainson’s Thrush (lots of flight calls)
2 Wood Thrush
4 American Robin
1 Nashville Warbler
2 Magnolia Warbler
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
6 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Bay-breasted Warbler
3 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Black-and-white Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 White-throated Sparrow (first of season)
4 Scarlet Tanager
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Purple Finch
This definitely helps explain the high warbler accounts around Pittsburgh on Friday. 14 warbler species were identified by my friends in Harrison Hills Park and 12 species were seen by another in Frick Park. We returned to Harrison Hills on Saturday and saw far fewer.
Since there is no post for 9/19, I will post today’s results here…
This morning was a great morning for birds. There were lots of migrants here in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania. Very few birds were in morning flight, however, the numbers in the trees made up for it.
Some highlights:
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Tennessee Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 20
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 10
Blackburnian Warbler 6
Blackpoll Warbler 5
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
White-throated Sparrow 2
Scarlet Tanager 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Purple Finch 7