Heavy migration was evident across the country last night, with northerly winds and clear skies over the northeastern US and mid-Atlantic setting the stage for another big flight into and out of the region. Here’s the radar from 7:30pm last night through 5:00am this morning.

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

Upper level winds over western NY and all of New England were in the 10-15kt range and out of the NW last night, driving many birds eastward to the coast into this morning. Over NJ the winds were rather light and variable, therefore playing less of a role in pushing birds eastward. That said, there were many birds launching off of eastern Long Island and Massachusetts last night, and many birds entering NJ from the northwest corner and heading either due south or southeast. This bodes very well for coastal location in New Jersey, as well as for interior ridges in the middle of the state (Chimney Rock, and possibly even Garret Mountain). Cape May should see a big morning flight today as well as experience good to excellent local birding conditions throughout the day as birds get settled in.

Light north winds should also trigger a diurnal raptor flight today, and given the nature of the winds the flight should be dispersed across the state. Therefore Chimney Rock and Cape May are both good bets if you want to see some hawks, eagles and falcons.

Winds will go mostly slack over the next 24 hours which will allow another night of migration tonight but will also mean that migrants are dispersed across the landscape on Sunday… not optimal for birding, but tis the season when every day of migration brings something new and interesting to your favorite drip/patch/hotspot!

Good Birding

David