Sorry for posting so late in the day but family responsibilities kept me busy this morning. Birds were on the move last night- and migration was eventually eclipsed by heavy rain and opposing winds. 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.

I feel a little like a Monday-morning-quarterback, but here it goes anyway. Light NNE winds last night triggered a moderate to heavy coastal flight over the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Migration was on a NE->SW trajectory for most of the night as can be seen from the NYC and Fort DIX radars suggesting that inland locations would hold more birds than their coastal counterparts this morning. The really interesting thing, though, was how the migration event was overtaken by the storms moving up from the south. This appears to have shut down migration as it passed, likely causing many birds to land prematurely during the early morning hours. If you experienced rain in your area between midnight and daybreak, make sure to check out your local patch- it could be teeming with birds! Word has it that Cape May Point is just such a place this morning, with many warblers (including Orange-crowned), sparrows (including Nelson’s!), and other late migrants feeding in the trees at the state park and around Lily Lake.

If you can get out, do it!

Good Birding

David