…although the radar cannot resolve whether broomsticks were involved. Here’s the radar from sunset last night though 5:00am this morning.

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

Since the last of the cold front had cleared the region by yesterday morning, migration over the mid-Atlantic has been set at ‘constant flow’.  Raptors moved through Cape May at a steady pace yesterday with two Golden Eagles being tallied at the Swarovski Hawkwatch. Having taken the rest of the day off after leading my Higbee’s Beach walk in the morning, I was able to see both of them. As the day ended, skies darkened, and winds continuing out of the north last night, it was no wonder that birds again took to the skies in southbound migration.

Looking at the regional composite you can see migration activity really concentrated along the east coast with the heaviest movements still south of us. I must say that I expected a little more in terms of density and coverage (especially more out of NY State), but then again it wasn’t as if many birds were backed up for more than one day. Where migration was significant, birds were heading out of New England and funneling down the coast with many of them making their way into New Jersey this morning. The trajectories on the individual radars suggest that the light NNE winds allowed birds to move inland by this morning as well, which will favor inland migrant traps over coastal ones. Light NE winds today will also favor inland hawkwatches too. That means Raccoon Ridge and Chimney Rock and Cold Brook Preserve in Central NJ, and sites along the Delaware River and Delaware Bay Shore down south. That said, since I can’t just throw Cape May under the bus… and I do expect a respectable portion of these coastal migrants to be on the southernmost peninsula (and Island) by daybreak. Now I’m out the door to look for owls pre-dawn… good birding to anyone lucky enough to have time on this Halloween Monday!

Wishing you many feathered treats,

David