South winds and clear skies last night provided ideal conditions for a moderate migration last night. The radar was picking up objects moving northeast at 10-15 kts which is highly indicative that there were birds in the sky while the 10-15dBz reflection indicates that it was a moderate flight. Since we are still early in the season, most migrants were likely various sparrows but there are definitely more interesting things mixed in there. Early reports of Louisiana Waterthrushes, hummingbirds, Barn Swallows and even a possible Ovenbird mean that there are good birds out there for the finding. Maybe Centre County will finally get a good push of Yellow-rumped Warbler, its been a slow season for them.
I am taking the PSU Ornithology Lab out to Bald Eagle State Park today so hopefully there are some passerines to find in addition to the rafts of ducks…