Regional Overview
Migration was very strong in the evening and early night hours before tapering off after midnight. Weather conditions were very conducive to migration across the entire region and only western PA should any precipitation. The western half of PA may see some localized fallouts where storms passed through areas of heavy migration.
Migrant composition is switching over to sparrows now as the peak of the warbler migration has now passed us. There are a lot of warblers still to come but look for numbers of sparrows to really build and for first sightings of White-crowned Sparrows to pop up across the region.
Forecast
It looks like we are in for at least two more nights of north winds before the weather switches up on us. Northwest winds over the Great Lakes could bring great lake watching conditions in addition to the nightly influx of new migrants.
I don’t always have time to comment on the radar in each state. To interpret it yourself, read the quick tutorial at the bottom of the page.
New York
Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Pennsylvania & New Jersey
Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Ohio
Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Maryland and Delaware
Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
Quick guide to interpreting the radar
On the top row (reflectivity radar), the images show the magnitude of migration. When birds are migrating, it looks like a donut shape around the center of the radar station.
The bottom row is the velocity radar. This shows the direction that the objects detected by the radar station are moving. Blues are moving towards the radar station, yellows and reds are moving away from the station. So for southbound migration, blue should be on the top half of the donut, yellow on the bottom half.
Watch for precipitation moving through during the night hours, this can cause birds to stop migrating in a concentrated area, creating the fabled ‘fallout’, particularly on nights with strong migration.
For more in depth info, watch this video.
For migration updates or other regions check-
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
I need your help! These reports will only be as good as the feedback I get on these updates. Please leave comments on interesting patterns of migration you are seeing in the field so I can incorporate some ground truthing to my forecasts and predictions. Thanks!