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.
With southwest winds across most of the region from Texas to New York, birds again took to the sky in high densities. Migration was heaviest still in the south, which is typical of this time of year, but unlike previous nights we did see some heavy radar returns over New Jersey. This suggests that more and more of the birds are making it up here as well.
Looking at the velocity images it appears that most movement was SSW->NNE, putting the main trajectory (and hence the bulk of the birds) from the northeastern Delaware Bay shore to somewhere between Garret Mountain to the west, and Sandy Hook to the east. Therefore these locations will provide the highest densities of birds this morning. Many birds appear to have put down across the central part of the state early this morning as well, and while these birds will be dispersed throughout the landscape, Central NJ birders should still expect new birds at their local patch. Cape May should see an influx of new birds today as well, while densities will most likely be lower than, say, Sandy Hook, simply because of the main axis I mentioned above.
Further north winds were stronger and more westerly which appears to have precluded any large flight across New England. New York State, on the other hand, did show some moderate returns with most birds heading in a more WSW->ENE direction.
Looking ahead, this same weather system promises to stay with us for awhile and should produce night-after-night of migration over the region. Because conditions to the north will improve, as well, we should expect a high rate of turnover each night with little build-up of birds. This, plus the face that no heavy precipitation or frontal boundaries are expected to concentrate birds over the next few nights, argues for visiting spring hotspots to maximize your chance of finding birds since. Paying attention to the major axis of migration the night before will help determine the best hotspot to visit the following morning.
Good Birding
David
9 responses to “Heavy migration into the Mid-Atlantic”
This morning, my yard in Kunkletown, PA was loaded with new migrants including Yellow-rumped, Palm, Pine, Black-throated Green, and Black-and-white Warblers and Ovenbirds.
Thanks for your report Corey. Those are some great yard birds! What type of habitat are you in? By Google Maps it looks like you’re in the Blue Mountain region of Eastern PA- is that correct? I imagine you get some good movements of birds along the nearby ridges.
I think we’re still a day or more away from heavy movement here in east-central New York. Slow activity today but hoping for influx soon!
Yes- for sure- especially since the conditions over New England and Eastern NY weren’t as good last night. That will change tomorrow, as birds are already moving under the NJ thunderstorm line! Strong SW flow is getting them on their way.
You were correct about Sandy Hook! A very good flight this morning, decent variety, though the numbers were skewed to yellow-rumped warblers, r-c kinglets, and gnatcatchers, many, many gnatcatchers. Maybe 13 species of warblers among the various observers. I was there before sunrise, and watched wave after wave of these three species coming off the ocean. Many FOS, in small numbers.
Thanks for your post Susan. Yeah- Yellow-rumps dominated down here too. The stream will keep going tonight- so Sandy Hook should be cranking again tomorrow. April 23 is usually my ‘touchstone-date’ for trans-gulf migrants making landfall along the Gulf Coast- so we’re just approaching the days of high diversity up here over the next week and a half.
Excellent day at Wheelabrator Refuge in Gloucester County, NJ. This is a spot on the Delaware River. More numbers and variety than I expected with the SW winds, but David did say that birds put down. Some numbers:
1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER
1 EASTERN PHOEBE
3 EASTERN KINGBIRDS
2 WINTER WRENS
5 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS
GNATCATCHERS
8 HERMIT THRUSHES
4 WARBLING VIREOS
4 RED-EYED VIREOS
1 PARULA
40 or so YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS
1 BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
1 PRAIRIE WARBLER
10 PALM WARBLERS
3 BLACK and WHITE WARBLERS
2 AMERICAN REDSTARTS
9 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS
30 or so WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS
As always, Sandy, thanks for posting your detailed reports. I think the overall density of birds moving off of the Appalachians probably had an influence on your day today… just so many birds in the pipe now! I think you’ll find turnover tomorrow, but still a good number and diversity. The wind will be a little more westerly tonight (SW vs. SSW) so it’ll be interesting if you get out to the same spot tomorrow to see whether the wind makes a difference. Good Birding!
Location: Donaldson Park, Middlesex County, NJ
Observation date: 4/24/11
Number of species: 31
Canada Goose 2
Mallard 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Black Vulture 2
Ring-billed Gull 5
Great Black-backed Gull 7
gull sp. 10
Mourning Dove 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 6
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 2
Fish Crow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Tree Swallow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 3
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 30
European Starling 10
Yellow Warbler 3
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 12
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 14
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 1