Hi all, Semi-briefly . . . Dan, this is highly typical of morning flight of nocturnal migrants, which in this case is likely birds engaged in some sort of redetermining (whether drift compensation or habitat search would be up for debate I suspect). There are several on this list with a good deal of experience speculating about and studying the subject. Additionally, this phenomenon (or set of phenomena depending on your perspective) occurs with some regularity in the Northeast US, in the fall season in particular; but it's not limited simply to urban, semi-urban areas, or by season, or by geography per se (although I suspect the diversity and number of migrants in the NE US may bias its detection here).
During the last two mornings, similar movements have occurred in Manhattan and along the barrier beaches of Long Island after the passage of low pressure. Nocturnal movements preceding these flights were substantial, both from a radar and acoustic perspective, with some nice calling events in Manhattan. I'd like to encourage all on this list to spend some time watching, as Dan did, for morning flight, no matter where you are, and enter your observations (as detailed as you can make them) into eBird! There are several of us at Cornell that are jazzed about studying this subject further, and the more information gathered across larger geographic areas the better! And while I am at it, for those of you around the greater NYC area, several people will be monitoring bird migration this evening (Tuesday) at the Tribute in Light in lower Manhattan and at the Empire State Building. If you plan to be out and about, whether listening to flight calls or counting birds in the artificial light of the city, please contact me off list. For the record, forecasts for this evening's weather have been scaled back a little from continued northerly flow to a more variable wind set, perhaps mostly light southerly winds. This should mean fewer birds getting "trapped" in the beams of light at the Tribute, but I suspect we may still see and hear hundreds of birds at any given time during the densest movements of the evening . . . Regards, Andrew On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 8:24 AM, Dan Poalillo <[email protected]> wrote: > I work in Bergen County, NJ and our parking lot is on top of a ridge. > This morning I observed from this ridge several dozen warblers over the > course of an hour (7AM-8AM) flying NORTH over our parking area. All were > giving flight calls of some sort, all were headed in precisely the same > South-to-North trajectory, and all were about 75 feet above the parking > area. > > Could this be some sort of redetermined migration? Has anyone else > encountered something similar? > > The surrounding area is suburban for miles, filled with many parks and > tree-filled yards. This makes me think what I observed is not some sort of > localized effect of an urban area. The wind was essentially calm this > morning, in case that plays a role in anyone's hypothesizing. > > I will be sure to keep my eyes and ears open in the next few weeks to see > if this is a pattern or a one-time anomaly. > > Dan Poalillo > Wanaque, NJ > > > > -- > *NFC-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_WELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC_RULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> > !* > -- > -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC-L_SubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
