Regional Overview
Rain and strong south winds kept migration at bay Saturday night after excellent migration on Friday night. What this probably means for Big Sit! events today is that there will be little morning flight activity but most areas should still have good numbers of birds around from the previous flight. Count areas with good habitat will still likely see a good variety, but areas relying on strong flights overnight or during the day will probably struggle to find as many species as usual.
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
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Pennsylvania & New Jersey
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Ohio
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Maryland and Delaware
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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!