Below is a snapshot of the national map with radar and weather fronts. Use this map to get an overall feel of migration and how weather affects nocturnal migration.
A cold front cleared South FL and the FL Keys yesterday and sort of got hung up waiting for a shift in upper level winds. A second front is heading south down the peninsula and should push start the stalled front. Extensive cloud cover and precipitation to the SE and SW of the state could hold up birds again tonight. Neotropical migrants are still showing up down here in considerable numbers leading us to believe we are dealing with a somewhat late migration by the birds. Given the NE wind flow we will say that inland locations especially those in the SW could be best. Besides inland sites, coastal tried and true migrant traps have potential for being great if precipitation is in the right place at the right time.
Get out bird this weekend and share some of your sights with us!
Our computer is still down and we were unable to download and post the radar as usual so we are doing the second best thing. Below is a list of links to radar loops from 2am-6am.
The regional radar is in reflectivity mode which is best used to quantify birds and to get a picture of where they are moving from. The rest of the radar links are velocity radars, these are best used to determine speed and direction of travel. With these images you are looking at light blue-dark blue returns (incoming birds) and yellow-orange (outgoing birds). The grayish line between the two colors is the line of axis, this line will give you an idea of which direction birds are entering the radar from and which direction they are flying as they exit radar range.
As always Badbirdz depends on its readers to help us understand the magic of bird migration. We ask our readers to take a minute to email us at badbirdz-reloaded@hotmail.com, post a comment on the site or share what you are seeing on our Facebook page. As a whole the Florida birding community is large and enthusiastic about bird migration, lets join together this year to make Badbirdz an integral part of every birders toolbox. Together we can track and monitor birds and learn more about this phenomenon called MIGRATION!
Nature is Awesome
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My 1st post:
Friday morning, Oct 25 Merritt Is NWR: No sign of Neotropical migrants.
Oak Hammock – one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and lots of mosquitos
9-Mile Loop – small groups of Long and Short-billed Dowitchers, 6 Red-necked Grebes, 5 Pied-billed Grebes, 40-50 Roseate Spoonbill’s, 10-12 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Eagles, 12 Reddish Egrets, 10 Kingfishers, 4-6 Palm Warblers, lots of White Ibis and the normal Herons, Cormorants and Anhingas, only a few Coots and no ducks on the water but a small flock seen flying in the distance. Also no ducks seen on the ponds on the way to Playalinda.
Biolab Road – Minimum beach available along the shoreline due to fall peak in the annual sea level cycle combined with north winds. Sandpipers: 40-50 Semipalmated, 4 Western, 6-8 Stilt, 6 Dunlin, 1 Caspian, 3 Royal and 2 Sandwich Terns along with several, Brown Pelicans, Anhingas and Cormorants, as well as several Kingfishers, normal Herons, Palm Warblers and 1 Eastern Phoebe.
By: Tommy Lee on October 26, 2013 @ 11:40 am
at 11:40 am
Thanks for the report! We are experiencing a real nice push of neotropical migrants down here in Miami. Looks like the Merritt Island area was sucked dry by the northerly winds. Keep an eye out for harbingers of winter migration 🙂 A & M
By: NatureIsAwesome on October 26, 2013 @ 11:52 am
at 11:52 am