Encouraging migration forcast here.
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/birdcast-alert Wind map for Wednesday, 7
March 2012, at 925 mb. The green area
indicates a nice area of southerly wind flow that should yield significant bird
movement through the Great Plains, Midwest, and Great Lakes regions.
Species to watch for include: Geese and swans, ducks,
American White Pelican, early herons and egrets, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Hawks,
American Kestrel, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Belted Kingfisher, Tree Swallow,
Purple Martin (in the south), Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit
Thrush, sparrows (especially Song and Fox) and blackbirds. Early trans-Gulf
migrant passerines possibly along the Gulf Coast (e.g., Prothonotary
Warbler).
Birders in many areas of the US east of the Rockies should see the signs of
new spring arrivals on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, depending on your
location relative to the approach and passage of this high-pressure system.
This
should include arrivals of early trans-Gulf migrant landbirds in the Gulf of
Mexico region. Some light migration may be evident in the central US
(primarily east of the Rockies but west of the Great Lakes) by Monday as the
system takes shape on its march eastward. By Tuesday, southerly winds and mild
weather forecast from the Texas coast to the Great Lakes should produce more
widespread and increasingly favorable conditions for diurnal and nocturnal
migration.
For those examining radar imagery at night, one might expect to see
some birds moving (with peak reflectivity values in the 5-15 dBz range,
approximating 50-100 birds km-3). For those listening at night,
expect to hear the first substantive nocturnal flight calling events of the
season (particularly sparrows, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creeper, and waterfowl) as
early season migrants continue moving northward. As the system continues to
track toward the Atlantic, favorable migration conditions will likely spawn
movements in the Ohio River Valley and western Appalachia by Wednesday, perhaps
even as far as the Atlantic seaboard. The pattern for this area should
continue
on Thursday, when many signs of early spring migrants should be apparent. By
Friday, the influence of unfavorable conditions after frontal passage will
presumably stall migration across much of the eastern US, with the exception of
some coastal locations on the Atlantic seaboard.
As always, we encourage you to get out both before and after the weather
event, report your birds to eBird, and let us know what you see (email Marshall
Iliff with noteworthy observations,
and put “eBird BirdCast” as the email subject). I saw my first two Canvasbacks
of the year this weekend at Black Dog Lake. I enjoy the feeling this time of
year of never quite knowing what you may run into on any given day. Brian
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