National Overview

Optimal migration conditions continued for the Pacific coast and Southwestern US, as well as the Central Flyway just east of the Rockies. Otherwise unfavorable northwest winds over much of the rest of the country, or very unstable weather in the Northeast, appear to have shut down migration everywhere else. See the bottom of the post for links to the various western US migration websites. You can also see the national composite animation here on Paul Hurtado’s radar archive.

Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am (central time) this morning

Since I will be publishing “as I go” each morning you may see some incomplete posts throughout the early morning hours. Don’t worry- it’s coming!

Mid Atlantic

Delaware & New Jersey

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

The winds seemed conducive to migration last night, but birds didn’t move en masse. This was most likely do to the heavy precipitation associated with the surface low spinning over Western NY. Either way expect little change in conditions this morning as only a few birds appear to have been moving in or out of the region. The SW flow does suggest that any birds moving would have headed toward the coast- but a coastal fallout is not expected given the low densities of birds.

Upper Midwest

Iowa & Illinois

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

Iowa and Illinois were just too far east and south to see much migration last night. Northwest winds over most of the eastern Midwest kept birds down across the region.

Wisconsin

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

Wisconsin saw a bit more migration last night as winds let up and some birds took to the sky. Milwaukee and La Crosse show a light flight of birds heading in a general SE->NW direction throughout the night. With new species showing up almost daily, even in low numbers, we can expect to see something new somewhere across the state this morning. No major concentrations or fallouts are expected, but birding conditions in general should be good at most spring hotspots. I should note that migration was heavier in NW Wisconsin and NE Minnesota, so check out Max’s report this morning over at The Northwoods BIRDAR site.

As always, woodcreeper.com depends on YOU to report your sightings and be our ‘eyes on the ground’, so please come back and give us an idea of how we’re doing predicting birding conditions in your neck of the woods.

For migration updates in other regions check-

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell <- NEW!
New England – Tom Auer’s blog
Florida/SE – Badbirdz Reloaded by Angel and Mariel Abreu
PA/Ohio Valley – Nemesis Bird by Drew Weber
NW Ohio – Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Arizona – Words About Birds by Tim Schreckengost <- NEW!
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US – eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird