While things were really going gangbusters in the Central US, the East Coast was comparatively quiet. Still, some birds appeared to move last night over the Mid-Atlantic.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
The radar indicated a low-altitude flight across the Delmarva and New Jersey last night with most birds moving on a strong SW->NE trajectory. While densities were pretty low, the strong directionality will favor such places as Cape May and Sandy Hook this morning.
Good Birding
David
3 responses to “A light flight into the Mid-Atlantic”
David,
Just wondering: In looking at your national map this morning, it appears that migration moves outward in mostly round-ish bursts. Have you ever studied where the centers of those “bursts” are? Is it good overnighting habitat? Wildlife refuges? Large areas of natural habitat? Seeing the migration this way is interesting and makes me think about how and where the birds do and do not congregate.
Carolyn-
Thanks for stopping by! The reason for the round-burst effect is that the radar’s view is like a giant cone: close to the ground near the radar station (the center of each circle) and higher above the ground at the limit of its range (far from the center point). At a certain point (around 80 miles) the entire radar beam is passing above the migration layer and it cannot detect birds. So, what you’re seeing in this national composite snapshot is the migration layer as seen by each individual radar, mosaicked together. No reflectivity near the radar means that no birds are migrating low enough to be detected by the radar at that point. I do study the use of radar to quantify the stopover habitat of birds, though, which is something you eluded to in your comment. To do that we use the images taken a short time after sunset, when birds initiate migration, and correlate the data on the radar with the underlying landscape. With enough data you really start to see the habitat usage patterns of migratory birds (and bats- we can’t forget about them!). Thanks again for stopping by. If you haven’t already done so, check out the Frequently Asked Question page for a video on radar interpretation and answers to some other interesting questions.
Cheers- and good birding!
David
We live in Northern Illinois, almost on the borderline with Wisconsin. We
birded yesterday, at and near the Nygren Wetlands, in Rockton, IL and on near
by roads around it (Moody, Blodget) and saw 2 Sandhill cranes, Northern
Shovelers, Savannah Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlark, Red
Winged Blackbird, Robin, Starlings, Grackle and the usual around the year
birds. . Cardinal, Mallards, Red-tailed Hawk and the ever present Canada Geese.
We did see a Killdeer at the Wetlands in Freeport, IL the day before; and also some double-crested Cormorant. Maybe we were a day early – – but it was still fairly
quiet out there. Although some of what we saw was earlier than normal.
Thanks for putting together this Migration site; interesting stuff!
Judith & John