National overview
Birds were on the move again across much of the Southeast, Upper Midwest and Western U.S. last night. The heaviest flights continued to be over the Upper Midwest and Eastern Plains following the passage of the most recent cold front across the middle of the country.
Below are the radar loops from sunset last night through 5:00am (central time) this morning
Upper Midwest
Minnesota
Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Heavy migration again over Minnesota with light northeast winds overnight. Birds appear to have been moving due south across both radars suggesting they’ll be dispersed across the landscape this morning. Expect migrant traps around the Twin Cities and along the north and south shores of Lake Superior to be holding new birds this morning.
Wisconsin
Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Heavy migration continued across Wisconsin last night as well, again with northeast winds pushing most of the birds inland off of Lake Michigan. Birds at high altitudes were less influenced by winds and tended to be migrating on a more NW->SE trajectory (see the La Crosse velocity loop for an extreme example of this). Given the general flight direction and northeast winds on the surface I expect inland migrant traps to be best this morning. For instance, Pheasant Branch in Middleton should see a noticeable bump in density and diversity today.
Iowa & Illinois
Frames are every 1/2 hour. click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Heavy migration made its way down into Iowa and Illinois this morning as well. See the Wisconsin description for general patterns. I expect inland hotspots around Chicago, such as Palos Woods, to be hopping this morning.
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 “Birds on the move again”
While not necessary part of your coverage area, today was the first multi-warbler day I’ve had at our farm in Ohio so far this fall: Magnolia (3), Wilson’s (1), Chestnut-sided (1), and a very nice male Black-throated Blue Warbler. Seemed like Blue Jays and flickers were on the move this morning also. Congratulations on the new job, seems like you might enjoy that sort of work.