I took this screenshot late this morning via this always helpful and very cool wind map. They use surface wind data from the National Digital Forecast Database, updated hourly, to create this national flow of air. Even without it in motion you can see there is a huge trough in the east, with winds shooting down from the northwest until you get to about Chicago, at which point the bend brings them screaming out of the south and then the east higher into New England. All of this unsettled weather can easily push avian migrants out of their chosen path, bringing southern resident rarities up to us (Purple Gallinule, anyone?) and pushing others intending to go north even further (e.g. Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers). Keep an open mind if you’re outside in the next few days!
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
