Hello, Birders. Here's a real-time report from Lafayette, eastern Boulder County, ca. 4:20 a.m., Thurs. morning, Sept. 11. Low cloud ceiling, 51 degrees Fahrenheit, winds out of the north. We're not quite yet down to the dew point, but with all the humidity, it should be a mess if the temp drops another degree or two.
Haven't heard a peep--I mean a tsweep--in the 20 minutes I've been out here. Regarding upsweeping tsweeps, I agree that they can be Spizella sparrows. Also Vesper Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and Orange-crowned Warblers. All the Spizellas (well, n=2) on a quick check yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, Sept. 10) of Greenlee Preserve, Boulder County, were Clay-colors, for what it's worth. And a decent pulse of Orange-crowned Warblers (but Wilson's still dominating). A Gray Flycatcher was a nice empid (Dusky seen and heard, too). Ted Floyd Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado On Thursday, September 11, 2014 12:22:31 AM UTC-6, Bryan Guarente wrote: > > Another run at Night Flight Calls and I produced 19 calls in two minutes > (all spizella type calls - upsweeping "tseeps"). And the clouds haven't > even started to cover up the skies. > > Bryan > > Bryan Guarente > Instructional Designer/Meteorologist > UCAR/The COMET Program > Boulder, CO > > On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 11:18 PM, Bryan Guarente <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Just got back in (11:15) from an early night flight listening. Had 53 >> night flight calls in 38 minutes. That is WAY up from the normal, >> especially for a clear night (so far). One data point for the data set. >> Radar is lighting up a little as well if you want to use that. Had 5 >> species (guesstimate) including Chipping Sparrow and Wilson's Warbler. >> >> Good luck out there. >> Bryan >> >> Bryan Guarente >> Instructional Designer/Meteorologist >> UCAR/The COMET Program >> Boulder, CO >> >> On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 9:09 PM, Bryan Guarente <[email protected] >> <javascript:>> wrote: >> >>> Great question! So the first question to answer is, does it matter if >>> it is raining or not? If you are Ted Floyd out there in the middle of the >>> night listening, maybe (it makes it harder to hear if it is raining). But >>> overall, I believe that it doesn't matter whether it is raining or not. >>> The winds are what matters and the clouds play an integral part in the >>> night flight equation. Now, as for the migration pattern, it still remains >>> nearly the same with a minor deceleration of the entire system (depending >>> on which computer model you believe). This redistributes some of the bird >>> movement, but not too much. Here is the 6am Thursday map: >>> >>> [image: Inline image 1] >>> >>> Clouds should increase throughout the night, and we still might see >>> drizzle or rain in the morning, but it is less likely now. The winds are >>> making nice patterns now for more specific migration locations in the >>> morning. The two red arrows are giving us a clue to where the migration >>> should be maximized. The northern arrow is pointing to a corridor from >>> Brighton through Fort Collins. The southern arrow is pointing toward a >>> corridor from Pueblo to La Junta. Both of these are approximate. I would >>> say the more likely one to have more birds is the northern circulation >>> because there is less need for the birds to turn toward the mountains and >>> go back to the north. However, one could still see birds locally converge >>> on these spots, so it could still mean increased bird activity in those >>> general areas. There is also a convergence zone connecting the two >>> circulations that will also play nicely for birds. Here is a zoomed in map: >>> >>> [image: Inline image 2] >>> >>> You can already see reflections of these circulations in the current >>> surface observations: >>> >>> http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/surface/displaySfc.php?region=den&endDate=20140911&endTime=-1&duration=0 >>> >>> That is an auto-updating map that should take you to the "current" >>> observations. At the time of me writing this, there are circulations >>> forming around Longmont/Loveland and Pueblo. I would personally pinpoint >>> the areas where these circulations are in the morning. Keep your eyes on >>> the surface observations (specifically the winds) and try to figure out >>> where they are pointing, and that is where you should point as well. "Put >>> the wind at your back and start walking." or "Go where the winds take you." >>> >>> Let the list know how your ventures go tomorrow and how that relates to >>> today or yesterday. >>> >>> Let me know if there are any questions and thank you to those of you who >>> have back-channel thanked me. I appreciate the kudos and also like doing >>> this for the community to see how it plays out. We are all learning more >>> about the interconnections. >>> >>> Good luck. >>> >>> Bryan Guarente >>> Instructional Designer/Meteorologist >>> UCAR/The COMET Program >>> Boulder, CO >>> >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/e8065f1b-226e-46b6-a5c5-4de0858ddadf%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
