While finishing my overnight shift at the National Weather
Service this morning, I couldn't help notice a sure sign
of spring: bird echoes on NWS radars from the lower
Mississippi valley to the lower Ohio Valley! The echoes
correlated well with southwesterly winds at 925 mb
of around 20-25 knots. The echoes were very "light" and not
nearly as extensive as we see later in spring but it is the beginning.
I wonder if this is waterfowl or early migrant songbirds like
red-winged blackbirds, robins, grackles, song sparrows etc?
I always though that blackbirds, robins and the like
migrated during the day. So would it be waterfowl? Hmmmm.
Anyway, I expect this early migration to continue through
the Ohio Valley into the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states
as a southerly flow will remain until Friday. I wonder if I
will see my first migrant red-winged blackbirds, grackles
and robins by Friday in upstate NY?
Think Spring!!!
Dave Nicosia
Johnson City, NY
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