A cold front approaching from the west caused strong southwest winds up and down the eastern seaboard last night. This triggered moderate to heavy migration from Florida all the way up into New England with the heaviest being from Central New Jersey up into Massachusetts. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through 5:30am this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

 

Last night’s migration event represents the second part in a two-night movement of birds up the east coast. You can read about Sunday night’s flight by scrolling back a day on this blog. The gist of it, though, is that lots of birds made their way as far as NW New Jersey. A low pressure system and warm front boundary extended across the state precluded birds from entering eastern NJ and points further north. Last night, though, the clear weather along the coast coupled with a strong tailwind, allowed for a heavy flight of birds out of the state (presumably many of the birds that arrived two nights ago) and a moderate influx into most of New Jersey.

I had expected to see more W-E drift last night since winds were forecast to turn westerly, but the velocity images indicate that most activity was on a strong SW->NE trajectory for most of the night. Migration did die down a little earlier as well (~4:00am) so it’ll be interesting to see how much redirected flight we see along the coast this morning. Expect new birds at most spring migrant traps today (Garret Mtn., Sandy Hook, Cape May) with coastal locations favored due to the wind direction. I’m still holding out for a good overshoot from the south due to the strong winds… how about a Swainson’s Warbler at Sandy Hook?? (okay okay- so it would be two weeks early- but I’m calling it!)

Okay- get out there before the thunderstorms get roaring! (although whatever is around today should stick until Wednesday night at least)

Good Birding

David