National overview
Hot and heavy migration continued up the Central Flyway last night with the heaviest movement from Texas to Iowa. High pressure over the Great Lakes kept things a bit quieter from Michigan to the Ohio Valley, and the Northeast will have to wait for the latest low to clear before birds make it up that way in earnest. The real hotspots, last night, though, were in the metro D.C. area where heavy migration coupled with a strong low pressure system should lead to some fallout conditions this morning. Also, birders in eastern Kansas, where storms intersected birds in the early morning hours, should also be on the lookout for fallout at first light. Migration continued up the west coast as well, from California to Washington State.
Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am (central time) this morning
Ohio/Ontario
Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Migration into the Ohio lakeshore region was pretty thin last night has high pressure kept birds down over most of the region, and precipitation kept birds from arriving to the south. The Cleveland radar did indicate some birds heading out from Ohio to Ontario, Canada, which means that the Point Pelee Festival of Birds is picking up some new birds today, albeit only a small push. The Detroit radar indicated a small exodus from the northwest shoreline of Lake Eerie, meaning that some turnover is expected for the entire forecast area and birds will be a little less dense throughout the region today.
While the radar suggests that there should be less birds around overall, the fact that there was some turnover brings the possibility of new species for the season- so get out there and bird!
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.
Good Birding,
David
For migration updates in other regions check-
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula -Â The Northwoods BIRDARÂ by Max Henschell
New England -Â 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
Pac NW - Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US - eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird
One response to “Woodcreeper On The Road: BIGGEST WEEK IN AMERICAN BIRDING”
I am north of DC in metro Baltimore, but can confirm a mini-fallout in the northeastern section of the city. I usually witness this in the general area of my neighborhood at least once or twice each spring. Unfortunately I was biking to work at the time and didn’t have my bins, but heard several black-throated greens (saw one), northern parula, red-eyed vireos, catbird (yet to arrive in force around here), and likely a few other warblers I didn’t have the time to sort out. It was by far the most active morning on my commute so far this spring. I was strongly tempted to forget about work and head to the field.
Thanks for all your hard work on this, David…it’s a most helpful resource!