Hurricane Matthew & Migration
First of all, my thoughts are with all who were or are experiencing the very worst of Hurricane Matthew, a deadly tropical cyclone that has been ravaging areas from Haiti to Cuba, the Bahamas, and now the United States. I, like you undoubtedly, know people who took some of the heavy blows from the storm in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. It proved to be a very difficult forecast which only exacerbated fears, and as heavy rain falls right now in the Mid-Atlantic and New England before the post-tropical cyclone heads out to sea instead of taking that long-discussed loop,...
Read MoreCape May Warblers
Today I had the best views of Cape May Warblers ever during easily the best day of spring migration so far this year. Birds that had been trapped in the Mid-Atlantic for a week or 10 days finally moved north with heavy migration occurring on southerly winds. New England and northern New York had poor migratory conditions still, stopping a lot of birds when they arrived, and some areas of fog and/or rain also helped locally. I thought these couple of shots were the best I would get, and I was happy enough… But they decided to stick around after the clouds cleared and show off, feeding...
Read MoreBlack-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)
This is about the best look I have had at a Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) so far this spring, only spotting a few individuals. That is probably because I have not spent much time around conifers in the last couple of weeks. The Mid-Atlantic radar is exploding tonight as migrants push north on some cooperative winds – get out there tomorrow morning and see what you can find! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreNo Migration – Until Now?
Here is an image of last night’s radar taken a little before midnight with strong and heavy avian migration occurring across the Deep South and Gulf Coast. Very few birds made it into the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, and there was no action in the Northeast. It was yet another night of poor bird movement for us, continuing a pattern and a theme that has persisted for a while this April. We have had lovely weather recently all thanks to northerly-based flows keeping air moving off the land being warmed by the sun as high pressures have been centered over the Great Lakes or Mid-Atlantic. We...
Read MoreBird Migration on Radar – March 31
Here is a radar grab of the eastern United States from just after midnight today with light bird migration occurring from the deep south all the way through Maine. A warm front had lifted through the Northeast while areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms associated with a soon to come cold front stretched across the Midwest. Areas near Georgia into the Carolinas and Delmarva appear to have had moderate migration occurring. At this time of the year we have everything from ducks to wintering friends like the Dark-eyed Junco to early arrivals like Pine Warbler, both kinglets, Chipping Sparrow,...
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