Moderate migration with some Mid-Atlantic blocking

National Composite Reflectivity from around midnight

Regional Overview

Last night we had some good conditions for some solid migration, but the high pressure system which I thought had moved out over the Atlantic was still lingering in the Mid-Atlantic. Basically there was a dead-zone of very little movement from North Carolina up through central PA, while all around birds were streaming north everywhere else. We really need to fix this blocking so that birds get into PA for the Birding Cup this weekend!

 


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 blocking south of Pennsylvania also affected the Finger Lakes region which saw less migration last night, but birds were flying over eastern and western PA, and NJ, so there was a fairly broad influx into NY last night. With no weather systems coming through last night look for birds to be widely spread about, although spots along Lake Ontario could be really hopping where a little bit of rain moved through the area last night

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.


Pennsylvania & New Jersey

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.


Ohio

I’d be really excited about getting out and birding NW Ohio this morning. With the radars over the state lighting up like they did last night, there should be a pretty broad influx across the state and numbers and diversity of species should really be building at Magee Marsh/Crane Creek. I am looking forward to being there in a week!

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!