National Overview

The east sides of both a warm front stretching down across the Great Plains and a cold front running down the East Coast represented the main transit lines for northbound migrants last night. Birds continue to move north out of the Gulf states, as well, with Circum-Gulf migration into Texas apparent on the radar last night.

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.

Moderate migration on southwest winds put birds over the coastal Mid Atlantic last night. Looking at the two radars servicing Delaware and New Jersey you can see strong SW->NE movement beginning at sunset, with migration tapering off just after 1am as winds turned NW with the passage of the front. Coastal migrant traps from Sandy Hook to Cape May should see some new birds today.

Upper Midwest

Iowa & Illinois

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

Migration was heavier in the west than in the east and this pattern showed well when comparing the Davenport radar to the one servicing the Chicago area. Moderate to heavy migration was apparent over Davenport as birds headed northwest on SE winds. Over Chicago conditions were less favorable for migration but not enough to shut things down, and the radar shows a light to moderate flight of birds into and out of the region last night. Birds were also heading SE->NW and therefore birders should be checking stopover locations on the west side of the city today. No large concentrations are expected, but the numbers of breeding birds combined with migrants should make for some decent birding today in the right locations.

Wisconsin

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

As with Iowa and Illinois, the migration was heaviest on the west side of the state closest to the approaching front. Looking at the regional map it’s clear that many more birds were migrating over Minnesota and the Dakotas last night, so we’ll have to wait for this front to move closer for us to get into the ‘sweet spot’. In the meantime, migration was heaviest over La Crosse with decreasing densities as you move east to the shore of Lake Michigan. Birds were moving on a SE->NW trajectory and therefore should be dispersed across the landscape this morning. Hitting breeding strongholds such as the Baraboo Hills, or stopover hotspots along the Mississippi or Wisconsin Rivers should produce the best birding conditions today.

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!
New Mexico – Albuquerque Birding by Matt O’Donnell <- NEW!
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US – eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird