This is the radar from 5:00pm last night to 6:00am this morning.
Frames are every 1/2 hour. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
It was an interesting night full of hopes for birders across the state. The spring has been rather slow and some of us are jonesing. Birds were up and moving north as the second big squall line associate with the upper level low slid into the western parts of the state. We are expecting the best birding of the season along west coast migrant traps such as Fort D., Honeymoon Island, Sanibel LH, Flamingo, ENP and even sites that are a bit inland too. We hope to hear from the badbirdz flock after a good birding day if it materialized.
West winds is what a Miami birder lives for during the spring. We see migrants that usually stick to our west like Kentucky, Cerulean, Golden-winged and Nashville Warblers to name a few. This lures us out to migrant traps such as Barnes, Kendall Indian Hammock, Cape FL, Matheson and Fairchild maybe even Sadowski. Birders a bit north of Miami have been reporting great birds recently and we expect more of the same today. In the first frames of the animation you can see that many birds lifted off from the Miami area but we hope newbies are replacing the birds that migrated north.
North Fl and GA could be seeing heavy concentrations of birds in areas that were hit hard by rain overnight. A look at the SE regional radar paints the picture of migrants trying to make a move north while being cut-off by high winds and heavy rains. We would love to hear from birders from this region.
As always, Badbirdz depends on YOU to report your sightings and be our ‘eyes on the ground’, so please come back and give us an idea of what you are seeing in your neck of the woods. This will help us better understand the radar images and in return we can pass this knowledge onto you.
For migration updates in other regions check-
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – The Northwoods BIRDAR by Max Henschell <- NEW!
New England – Tom Auer’s blog
PA/Ohio Valley – Nemesis Bird by Drew Weber
NW Ohio – Birding the Crane Creek by Kenn Kaufman
Arizona – Words About Birds by Tim Schreckengost <- NEW!
Pac NW – Birds Over Portland by Greg Haworth
Continental US – eBird BirdCast Forecast & Report by Team eBird
Nature is Awesome,
Angel and Mariel
Badbirdz Reloaded 
The birds at De Soto were abundant and varied! Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, Veery, Swainson’s, Gray-cheeked, and Wood Thrush, Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Buntings, Cedar Waxwings, 20+ warbler species: Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-winged, Black-and-white, Prothonotary, Tennessee, Orange-crowned, Kentucky, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded, American Redstart, Cape May, Cerulean, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Palm, Prairie, Black-throated Green. These were the ones I saw, and others were reported, like Blackburnian and Black-throated Blue, and Lousiana Waterthrush. Among the shorebirds, a lone Pectoral Sandpiper was of note among the usual shorebirds.
By: rdirizarry on April 22, 2012 @ 7:19 pm
at 7:19 pm
Today in Pinetree Park in Miami Beach, there was a perfect-plumage chestnut-sided warbler! Lots of other expected migrants were around, including several indigos (2 male). When I got back to my house (Little Havana area) the yard had several migrants, including black-throated blue, n. waterthrush and redstart. Keep in mind until today, I have seen almost nothing!!!The weather makes a lot of difference…
By: Frank on April 22, 2012 @ 8:43 pm
at 8:43 pm
eBird list for observations while baning at Hammock Park in Dunedin.
Dunedin Hammock City Park, Pinellas, US-FL
Apr 22, 2012 6:00 AM – 1:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments: Observations from the loop checking banding nets. While the actual distance was approx 1 mile, the distance walked over the course of the day checking nets was 9.72 miles, 18501 steps. Birds observed via banding noted.
61 species (+1 other taxa)
Mallard (Domestic type) 2
Wood Stork 1
Anhinga 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 2
Tricolored Heron 3
White Ibis 6
Osprey 2
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Common Gallinule 6
Laughing Gull 25
Mourning Dove X
Nanday Parakeet X
Barred Owl 1
Chuck-will’s-widow 1
Chimney Swift 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3 All three in banding nets
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
White-eyed Vireo 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay X
Fish Crow X
Purple Martin 2
Tree Swallow 3
Tufted Titmouse X
Carolina Wren 10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Veery 4 2 in banding nets
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1 in banding nets
Swainson’s Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 5
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 5 2 in banding nets
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Kentucky Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2 1 in banding nets
Hooded Warbler 1 Female
Northern Parula 10
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 singing
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 10
Scarlet Tanager 3
Northern Cardinal 15 3 in banding nets
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 10
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 45 6 in banding nets
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Boat-tailed Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
Orchard Oriole 2 1 FY male, 1 ad male
Baltimore Oriole 2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3
By: Jason G on April 23, 2012 @ 10:13 am
at 10:13 am
Yesterday I went down to St Marks NWR looking for migrants and I found a decent number (not quite a fallout) behind the restrooms near Headquarters Pool. Many Indigo Buntings and Summer Tanagers around. Heres what I saw in about 2.5 hours of birding:
Stilt Sandpiper- 8
Eastern Wood-Pewee- 1
White-eyed Vireo- 1
Red-eyed Vireo- 15+
Barn Swallow- 75+
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher- 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 1
Swainson’s Thrush- 4
Wood Thrush- 1
Blue-winged Warbler- 1 male
Prothonotary Warbler- 1 female
Common Yellowthroat- 3 males
Northern Parula- 1
Yellow Warbler- 1 male
Chestnut-sided Warbler- 1 male
Blackpoll Warbler- 1-2 males
Palm Warbler (Yellow)- 1
Pine Warbler- 2
Seaside Sparrow- 1 singing
Summer Tanager- 7+ males, immatures, and females
Indigo Bunting- 25+
Orchard Oriole- 4+
Also reported in the area were a male Cape May, a Worm-eating Warbler, and both a Rose-breasted and a couple of Blue Grosbeaks.
Later in the day I birded Indianhead Acres in Tallahassee and had the following:
Swainson’s Thrush- 1 singing
Hooded Warbler- 2
Yellow-breasted Chat- 1
Baltimore Oriole- 1 male
A good day of birding,
The Teenage Birder
By: Teenage Birder on April 23, 2012 @ 10:52 am
at 10:52 am
Forgot to add that I also saw a male Scarlet Tanager at St Marks as well
By: Teenage Birder on April 23, 2012 @ 10:54 am
at 10:54 am