Heavy migration with western NY and PA fallout possibility

Regional Overview

Migration was very evident on the radar last night, with masses of birds flying north with weather that is finally working in their favor. Storms moved into and over western NY and western PA in the early morning hours, possibly setting up some fallout conditions. We are probably at the peak of migration now, and birds have been held up considerably due to the weather patterns over the last 2 weeks. Any fallout could hold excellent numbers and diversity of 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

The Ontario lakeshore would be a great place to check, as precipitation moved across the area soon before sunrise. Migrant traps and wood plots along the lake should be very active. Away from the lake, precipitation was too late to affect migrating birds, so migrants should be widespread, with many more breeders occupying territory this morning and an uptick in migrants at most of the regular birding spots.

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-

Upper Midwest – Woodcreeper by David La Puma
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell
New England – Tom Auer’s blog
Florida/SE – Badbirdz Reloaded by Angel and Mariel Abreu
NW Ohio – Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US – eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird
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!