Well, that pesky low finally moved northeast enough to let the floodgates swing open again, and swing it did! 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.
Looking at the regional composite you can see that the low is still spinning over New England, seriously reducing the number of birds migrating out of that area. Over the rest of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, though, migration was hot, heavy, and headed this way. You can actually see the migration cloud from western New York make its way into New Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula!
Looking at the individual radars confirms that these are indeed birds (although there was little doubt, since the signal was perfectly absent of any precipitation and/or other contamination), with strong directional flight from the WNW->ESE and many birds being pushed over water through the early morning hours. You can see the trajectory turn more N->S as birds hit the coast, thereby correcting for their easterly drift. These are all good signs for a heavy morning flight today.
Coastal hotspots are going to be the best locations today, with Sandy Hook, Island Beach State Park, and Cape May traditionally being the most consistent. Early reports of nocturnal flight calls from Michael O’Brien, Scott Whittle and Sam Galick indicate a heavy flight over Cape Island (30-50 flight calls / minute). Birds should be coming back ashore throughout the morning, and WNW winds all along the coast will keep birds at these hotspots throughout the day. Interior locations should see new birds today as the influx from the west was quite heavy, but expect many of these birds to disperse across the landscape and therefore be present in lower densities at any one site. All in all it’s a great day for birding!
Good Birding
David
4 responses to “Heavy migration into the Mid-Atlantic”
Gloucester County areas today. Along the Delaware River. First the NP dredge spoils -the woods. Next was Riverwinds. I’ll combine totals. Definite change from Wed.
Some new in – lots out!
1 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD – I hope was this!
3 NORTHERN FLICKERS
4 PHOEBES
20 or so BLUE JAYS
3 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS
30 plus GRAY CATBIRDS – most at Riverwinds.
2 BROWN THRASHERS
1 MAGNOLIA WARBLER
48 or so YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS – most were at the dredge spoils.
1 BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
7 BLACKPOLLS
5 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
10 or so FIELD SPARROWS
20 plus SONG SPARROWS
3 SWAMP SPARROWS – all at Riverwinds.
20 or so WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS
9 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS – all juveniles – all at Riverwinds.
4 JUNCOS
GOLDFINCHES – hardly any. And all at the dredge spoils.
Sandy Hook with major influx of YR Warblers, GC Kinglets, RC KInglets, still high numbers of Phoebes,
Brown Creeper, increase in sparrow diversity with increasing numbers of White-throated, White-Crowned, Swamp, Savannah,Song,FOS 2 Chipping,
2 Lincoln’s, !0 sp warbler with 1 OCW, 1 Parula,
1 Magnolia, 5 Blackpolls, “western” palms, 1 BTG,
1 BTB, 1 Parula, FOS Hermit Thrush, 2 Purple Finch not a flyover for a change.
Well, the small organic garden club plot on Cook Douglass campus (my best place in that usually disappointing campus) had a significant number of palm warblers, yellow-rumps and savanna sparrows today during a lunchtime walk.
A day off work!!
Dawn at Chimney Rock had waves of birds flying over the car park headed South. Primarily Yellow-Rumps, Palms, RC Kinglets, with a smattering of (from what I could tell) Phoebes, sparrows etc. Many hundreds of birds, few of which dropped on to the end of the ridge.
Many Hundreds of Robins flying N back on to the ridge.
On the ground there were many RC Kinglets, WT Sparrows, Yellow rumps.
In the multiples category were BT Blues, BT Green, Blackpolls, GC Kinglets.
Also: Scarlet Tanager, Winter Wren, Creeper, NE Woodpecker full house, Purple Finch, B&W and numbers of more common local/short distance migrants.
Warren Green Acres (Glenhurst Meadows) was dripping with RC Kinglets, and hundreds of Palms and Yellow Rumps.
Some other highlights:
Grasshopper Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
multiple Lincoln’s Sparrows
several WC Sparrows
Blackpoll, Tennessee, BT Greens
Many Swamp, WT, Savannah and Song Sparrows
Most surprising two Bobwhite, which I presume someone local has stocked somewhere close by.
Rest of the day at the Chimney Rock Hawkwatch produced a good, but unexceptional flight, Highlighted by breaking our previous all time record high on Bald Eagles – now at 151 and counting.