RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, Bryan et al.
 
Bryan, thanks for the great response.
 
> In these maps, I see an area of weak frontal passage or at  
> the least frontgenesis (front "birthing" area) just south of
Pittsburgh  
> running ese to wnw.  The winds behind the frontal zone are directly  
> from the north or slightly west of north.  12Z is just before sun-up  
> that time of year, so about the time I would expect Ted was out  
> huckin' papers.  With the frontal passage overnight, I would expect  
> the bird numbers to be piled up behind the front in the preferable  
> wind field.  I would suspect that the morning was cloudy with maybe  
> a light drizzle based on the frontogenesis.  Based on the sounding  
> from that morning, there was possibly some fog or very low clouds  
> that morning (Sounding  ).  I would expect
that this made the conditions  
> even better, pushing some of the birds lower.  It seems like a perfect

> day to me for a nice night flight...
 
Hold that thought for just a moment. You'll see why...
 
> but wait...
>  
> Ted's dates were Sept 21-22, 1985, so we have been looking at  
> the morning before the flight occurred not the night of it.
> 
> [...]
> 
> These winds are not preferable for what one might want to see for an  
> NFC kind of night.  Winds from the south or SSW.  I am hoping that  
> the answer to this is that Ted has the wrong dates recorded, but that
is  
> for him to decide.   
 
I checked again, and the date is correct. The big flight was in the 5am
hour of Sunday, September 22nd, 1985. (Nautical dawn in Pittsburgh
doesn't start till 6:08 a.m. on that date, so this was a full-on night
flight.)
 
Anyhow, this brings me to something I've been pondering a fair bit the
past few months: Maybe active nocturnal migration is a lot "leakier"
than we imagine. Let me explain. Although there is undeniably a general
relationship between big night flights and big weather events (e.g., the
recent "monumental nocturnal migration," well predicted, I hasten to
point out, by Bill Evans), I doubt it's a perfect relationship. I mean,
nothing in ecology is perfect; everything is messy; if you're
statistically inclined, r-squared is always less than 1.0.
 
Sure, we tend to remember the textbook-perfect events: great hawk
flights when the winds are "perfect," great shorebird fallouts in
miserable weather, "monumental" night flights of passerines on the heels
of favorable conditions for flying, etc. But what about all the times
when we go out in "great" conditions only to find few if any "good"
birds? Conversely, what about all the times we are surprised by good
birding, despite seemingly poor conditions?
 
A little while ago, I posted to NFC-L about a non-existent night flight
in Colorado that was followed by a very heavy (practically "monumental")
dawn flight. Details here: http://tinyurl.com/2eyuena. I hypothesized
that the birds "leaked out" at dawn, as soon as they could see enough to
migrate close to ground level, below the nasty south winds.
 
What I did NOT mention in my post--because I didn't know it at the
time--is that Mark Peterson observed the exact same phenomenon about 150
miles to my southeast, the same day. He had been out overnight and heard
nothing. Then he observed a very heavy dawn flight. By "dawn," I mean
that it got underway during "dawn"--both of us started to detect this
movement toward the end of "nautical dawn," and we observed that it
continued well past sunrise.
 
I used to think--and I still think it's the "conventional wisdom"--that
good night flights are precipitated by events at or before sunset the
night before. By why is that necessary? (And if it IS necessary, then
you need to look at conditions at sunset at the source--hundreds of
miles away in the case of strong fliers like thrushes. Aside to Bryan:
What were conditions like at sunset the night before, a few hundred
miles nw. of Pittsburgh?)
 
Recently, we've learned that nocturnal migrants do strange things few of
us ever anticipated. For example, some of them don't sleep--at all.
Swainson's Thrushes and White-crowned Sparrows undergo dramatic
physiological changes at the onset of migration--changes that basically
enable them to forego sleep, day and night, during spring and fall
migration. Even wilder is that sustained flight is paradoxically *less*
metabologically demanding for a migrating Gray-cheeked Thrush than is
hanging around at daytime stopovers (when the birds are relatively cold,
and therefore losing energy).
 
An emerging paradigm is that birds have a lot more leeway--a lot more
flexibility, or "plasticity"--with regard to migratory strategies than
we'd ever imagined. (Read the Euro literature on migratory Blackcaps!
It's unreal.)
 
Back to the morning of Sept. 22, 1985. Could it be something of a wild
goose chase to analyze conditions at sunset on Sept. 21st a few hundred
miles north of Pittsburgh? Instead, might the birds have responsed to
changing conditions, on location, as 

Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Bryan Guarente]

NFCers,
I have saved off a bunch of the radar data and a bunch of streamline data from 
the Sept 10-11 event for my personal use and would be willing to share them 
with 
anyone who wants to see them.  They are currently hidden to the world, but I 
could make them available if anyone wants to look through them.  It was an 
interesting event where a frontogenesis area was aligned very oddly for the 
Northeast (NW to SE) and that was causing the winds to be out of the NE as 
multiple people have noted.  I didn't track the frontogenesis zone back to its 
origins to learn maybe how this could happen in the future, but might be able 
to 
do that with some of the data I saved off.  That will be at a later date though.

Now to Ted's questions:
I have fond memories of Sept 21-22 1985, but from outside Philadelphia, PA... 
wait I was three... (sorry I just had to do that, I will accept all retorts)

My memories are better served up from this website:
http://vortex.plymouth.edu/upairwx-r.html

This is an archive of upper-air meteorological data that goes back to 1957 
(just 
in case your memory goes back further than mine).  This page is a subset of the 
Make-your-own maps archive from Plymouth State University found here:

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/u-make.html

So I went back to look at Ted's memories.  I am a fan of streamlines for seeing 
what is happening in the atmosphere.  I checked multiple levels of the 
atmosphere to come to some of my conclusions: 1000mb (nearing sea-level), 925mb 
(.5-.75km up), and 850mb (1-1.5km up).  Let me show you a few of the maps then 
you can make your own to play along.

I started with Sept 21, 1985 at 12 zulu or UTC 925mb.  It looks like this:
http://tinyurl.com/243kak3
OR zoomed in on the Northeast here:
http://tinyurl.com/256lavj

In these maps, I see an area of weak frontal passage or at the least 
frontgenesis (front "birthing" area) just south of Pittsburgh running ese to 
wnw.  The winds behind the frontal zone are directly from the north or slightly 
west of north.  12Z is just before sun-up that time of year, so about the time 
I 
would expect Ted was out huckin' papers.  With the frontal passage overnight, I 
would expect the bird numbers to be piled up behind the front in the preferable 
wind field.  I would suspect that the morning was cloudy with maybe a light 
drizzle based on the frontogenesis.  Based on the sounding from that morning, 
there was possibly some fog or very low clouds that morning (Sounding).  I 
would 
expect that this made the conditions even better, pushing some of the birds 
lower.  It seems like a perfect day to me for a nice night flight... but wait...

Ted's dates were Sept 21-22, 1985, so we have been looking at the morning 
before 
the flight occurred not the night of it.

Contiguous US
http://tinyurl.com/2a6v9aq
Northeast
http://tinyurl.com/25oo3s8

These winds are not preferable for what one might want to see for an NFC kind 
of 
night.  Winds from the south or SSW.  I am hoping that the answer to this is 
that Ted has the wrong dates recorded, but that is for him to decide.  If you 
want to check the overnight hours, just change the date back one and change the 
time to 00Z, that should give you the evening sounding information.  


For the meteorologically savvy, we know it is not always possible to create 
these kinds of analyses from the sounding network we have in the US, so there 
is 
definitely some concern about either of the days of data, but it is no 
different 
than the data we get these days, so believe what you will, with the 
understanding that the dataset is not necessarily representative (but there is 
no current way to gauge that).  


So Ted, I have given you the tools to relive your meteorological past 
(excluding 
archived radar, which is much more involved and would only be reflectivity not 
velocity based on the date).  Tell me if you think you could have recorded the 
wrong date, or if you think you have the right dates, because that makes for an 
even more compelling story if it is the right dates.  



Good luck with reliving your past.  
Bryan Guarente
Instructional Designer/Meteorologist
The COMET Program
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, CO



  
--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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Re:[nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Ted Floyd]

Hi, all.

I've been enjoying the discussion of the "monumental nocturnal
migration" of Sept. 10-11, 2010.

Which reminds me of something. It's a bit obscure, but I think some of
you may appreciate it--and may be able to help with something. We're
coming up on the 25th anniversary of the greatest nocturnal migration
event I've ever witnessed: huge numbers of warblers (and sparrows?) and
good (but not huge) numbers of "thrushes" (Rose-breasted Grosbeaks?--see
below), the night of Sept. 21-22, 1985, over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I
was in high school at the time, and I had a paper route that required me
to be out well before sunrise.

Anyhow, I was blown away by the numbers of "warblers and sparrows" and
fairly impressed by the number of "thrushes" I heard--and wrote about in
my field notes--before dawn that morning. After sunrise, I noted large
numbers of grounded Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (were those the
"thrushes"?--then again, maybe I just missed skulking thrushes), plus
warblers (but I see no mention in my notes of grounded migrant
sparrows). 

My question is: Does anybody have insight, 25 years later, as to what
precipitated this event? At the time, I wouldn't have thought to consult
radar, NFC-L, or the flight calls CD-ROM...  ;)

...

Changing the subject, thanks for the offline inquiries about viewing
Uranus while listening to nocturnal migrants. And apologies to those of
you who had some technical difficulties with my earlier sky chart. Well,
try this, it (now) works:

http://tinyurl.com/38svymy

---

Ted Floyd
Editor, Birding

Follow Birding magazine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine

---

--

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ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html
3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[David Martin]

  Here in the Albany, NY area I had the highest number of calls for a 
single night on 10 Sep in my four years of recording, but my  numbers 
(460)  are lower than other reports.  That may be because my location is 
in the Hudson River valley at a relatively low elevation (100m), and 
most birds were flying high.  Also, the thrush detector I've been using 
doesn't seem very efficient -- it's something I need to work on.

At 10PM, the presumed bird reflectance on the Albany radar image 
extended out >100km.  The elevation of the Albany radar antenna  is  
589m (1934 ft).  So, at 100km the radar was detecting birds between 1400 
and 3100m above sea level (4500 -- 10,200 ft).

David Martin

On 9/16/2010 9:38 AM, Jeff Wells wrote:
>
> We have one station running up here in Maine but interestingly 
> although it picked up good numbers (600+ calls) on the night of the 
> 10^th , it picked up more calls on the 7^th (752) and also 600+ calls 
> on the 2^nd .
>
> Jeff Wells
>
> *From:* bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu 
> [mailto:bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Mike 
> Powers
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:06 PM
> *To:* Benjamin Van Doren
> *Cc:* David La Puma; Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration
>
> Hi all,
>
> Ditto (almost) to what Benjamin wrote: we (Andrew Farnsworth, Anne 
> Klingensmith, and I) have several microphones out in the Ithaca area 
> hope to analyze the night of the 10th shortly.  We're looking forward 
> to comparisons with the various recording stations around the northeast!
>
> Earlier this evening it was quite active in the southern tier of NY, 
> with a good flight of thrushes:  mostly Veery followed by Swainson's 
> Thrush with a couple of Gray-cheeked as well.
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
> --
> Mike Powers
> Horseheads, NY
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Benjamin Van Doren 
> mailto:nimajn...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Bill & David -
>
> Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY 
> metro area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to 
> see what they hold (though everything may not be extracted and 
> classified for few months). I was listening for about an hour on the 
> night of the 10th and heard many more flight calls than I've ever 
> heard from my house, so the flight should be interesting to quantify 
> (and interesting to compare to the Cape May mics).
>
> Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!
>
> Benjamin Van Doren
>
> White Plains, NY
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma  <mailto:woodcree...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Awesome, Bill.
>
> Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same 
> region; the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me 
> tomorrow in the early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly 
> chilled.
>
> Cheers- and good listening!
>
> David
>
> ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so 
> we should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the 
> recordings.
>
>
> 
>
> David A. La Puma
> Postdoctoral Associate
> New Jersey Audubon Society
> 600 Route 47 North
> Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
> Office: 609.861.1608 x33
> Fax:609.861.1651
>
> Websites:
> http://www.woodcreeper.com
> http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com
>
> Photos:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
> mailto:wrev...@clarityconnect.com>> wrote:
>
> Nfcers,
>
> I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future 
> nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the 
> first two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of 
> Sep 10-11, 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv 
> membership at a pub of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, 
> for those who have an ear to hear and an eye to see in this manner, 
> take note of future fall migrations over northeastern US in case of 
> cashing in on my offer. I wager, given the rarity of such large 
> nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years, and the crushing inertia of 
> human civilisation, that a flight the density and breadth of Sep 10-11 
> 2010 will not happen again in our lives across interior northeastern 
> USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.
>
> As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations 
> to surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal 
> attention was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by 

RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Jeff Wells]

We have one station running up here in Maine but interestingly although
it picked up good numbers (600+ calls) on the night of the 10th, it
picked up more calls on the 7th (752) and also 600+ calls on the 2nd.

 

Jeff Wells

 

From: bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mike
Powers
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:06 PM
To: Benjamin Van Doren
Cc: David La Puma; Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Hi all,

Ditto (almost) to what Benjamin wrote: we (Andrew Farnsworth, Anne
Klingensmith, and I) have several microphones out in the Ithaca area
hope to analyze the night of the 10th shortly.  We're looking forward to
comparisons with the various recording stations around the northeast!

Earlier this evening it was quite active in the southern tier of NY,
with a good flight of thrushes:  mostly Veery followed by Swainson's
Thrush with a couple of Gray-cheeked as well.

Cheers,
Mike

--
Mike Powers
Horseheads, NY



On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Benjamin Van Doren
 wrote:

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what
they hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few
months). I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and
heard many more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the
flight should be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to
the Cape May mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

 

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same
region; the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow
in the early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the
recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper









On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the
first two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep
10-11, 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv
membership at a pub of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So,
for those who have an ear to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take
note of future fall migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing
in on my offer. I wager, given the rarity of such large nocturnal
migrations in the past 20 years, and the crushing inertia of human
civilisation, that a flight the density and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010
will not happen again in our lives across interior northeastern USA.  If
so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal
attention was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my
pending documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this
nocturnal migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and
amidst other human tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we
prevail in the bigger picture, imprinting earth with our natural history
activities, respectfully & nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep
10-11 rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations
were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two
nights later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla
flight calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of
the higher numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of
migrants aloft burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density
was nature-born and the species composition a delightfully telling
ancient echo. The flight is now just a memory for a few of us, but
indicative records remain:

Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
download for another 24 hours or so at:
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD
records from Albany, Watertown, Binghamton, and Buffalo, NY along with
State College, PA show sign of sustained 28+ dBZ biological reflectivity
crossing the breadth of interior NY 

RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Richard Guthrie]

Report on eBird?

 

I say sure.

 

It's all valid  very useful and informative data!

 

Perhaps a notation about the gathering technique ie "nocturnal flight call
monitoring" might be added .

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

New York

gael...@capital.net

 

 

 

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris
Tessaglia-Hymes
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:17 PM
To: 'Benjamin Van Doren'; 'David La Puma'
Cc: 'Bill Evans'; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

On the night of the 14th annual Montezuma Muckrace (10th-11th), our team
(The Gallinagos - consisting of Jeff Gerbracht, Kevin McGowan, Gerard
Phillips, and me) recorded the bulk of the night migration from a location
just Southwest of the Village of Savannah, New York, from about 10:45pm
until a little after sunrise. The recording was made using a Zoom H4n
Recorder and a single Sennheiser MKH 20 omnidirectional microphone. Gerard
and I skimmed the audio files already, but I intend to do a much more
in-depth tally when I have more time. We can add these data to the map for
comparison purposes.what an amazing night migration, indeed! When I have
final numbers, I'll post them to this List.

 

Question: should we be reporting these kinds of numbers into eBird?

 

Thanks and good birding!

 

Sincerely,
Chris T-H

 

--

Chris Tessaglia-Hymes

Listowner, NFC-L

Ithaca, New York

c...@cornell.edu

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES

 

 

From: bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Benjamin Van
Doren
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:21 PM
To: David La Puma
Cc: Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper








On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
& nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep 10-11
rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two

RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Chris Tessaglia-Hymes]

On the night of the 14th annual Montezuma Muckrace (10th-11th), our team
(The Gallinagos - consisting of Jeff Gerbracht, Kevin McGowan, Gerard
Phillips, and me) recorded the bulk of the night migration from a location
just Southwest of the Village of Savannah, New York, from about 10:45pm
until a little after sunrise. The recording was made using a Zoom H4n
Recorder and a single Sennheiser MKH 20 omnidirectional microphone. Gerard
and I skimmed the audio files already, but I intend to do a much more
in-depth tally when I have more time. We can add these data to the map for
comparison purposes.what an amazing night migration, indeed! When I have
final numbers, I'll post them to this List.

 

Question: should we be reporting these kinds of numbers into eBird?

 

Thanks and good birding!

 

Sincerely,
Chris T-H

 

--

Chris Tessaglia-Hymes

Listowner, NFC-L

Ithaca, New York

c...@cornell.edu

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES

 

 

From: bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Benjamin Van
Doren
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:21 PM
To: David La Puma
Cc: Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper









On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
& nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep 10-11
rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two nights
later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla flight
calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of the higher
numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of migrants aloft
burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density was nature-born and
the species composition a delightfully telling ancient echo. The flight is
now just a memory for a few of us, but indicative records remain:

Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
download for another 24 hours or so at:
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD r

Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Mike Powers]

Hi all,

Ditto (almost) to what Benjamin wrote: we (Andrew Farnsworth, Anne
Klingensmith, and I) have several microphones out in the Ithaca area hope to
analyze the night of the 10th shortly.  We're looking forward to comparisons
with the various recording stations around the northeast!

Earlier this evening it was quite active in the southern tier of NY, with a
good flight of thrushes:  mostly Veery followed by Swainson's Thrush with a
couple of Gray-cheeked as well.

Cheers,
Mike

--
Mike Powers
Horseheads, NY


On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Benjamin Van Doren wrote:

> Bill & David -
>
> Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
> area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
> hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
> I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
> more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
> be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
> mics).
>
> Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!
>
> Benjamin Van Doren
> White Plains, NY
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma wrote:
>
>> Awesome, Bill.
>>
>> Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same
>> region; the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in
>> the early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.
>>
>> Cheers- and good listening!
>>
>> David
>>
>> ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
>> should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.
>>
>>
>> 
>>
>> David A. La Puma
>> Postdoctoral Associate
>> New Jersey Audubon Society
>> 600 Route 47 North
>> Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
>> Office: 609.861.1608 x33
>> Fax:609.861.1651
>>
>> Websites:
>> http://www.woodcreeper.com
>> http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com
>>
>> Photos:
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Nfcers,
>>>
>>> I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
>>> nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
>>> two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
>>> 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
>>> of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
>>> to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
>>> migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
>>> given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
>>> and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
>>> and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
>>> interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.
>>>
>>> As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
>>> surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
>>> was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
>>> documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
>>> migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
>>> tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
>>> picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
>>> & nonetheless.
>>>
>>> The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep
>>> 10-11 rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were
>>> off (http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but
>>> you only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two
>>> nights later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla
>>> flight calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of the
>>> higher numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of migrants
>>> aloft burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density was nature-born
>>> and the species composition a delightfully telling ancient echo. The flight
>>> is now just a memory for a few of us, but indicative records remain:
>>>
>>> Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
>>> download for another 24 hours or so at:
>>> http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD
>>> records from Albany, Watertown, Binghamton, and Buffalo, NY along with State
>>> College, PA show sign of sustained 28+ dBZ biological reflectivity crossing
>>> the breadth of interior NY (Albany to Buffalo) and moving southward across
>>> central PA.
>>>
>>> The link below leads to a thermal image video I made during a period of
>>> peak passage in the flight (11:15-12:00 EDT) from 610 m asl at the
>>> Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area (15 km east of Ithaca, NY, 

Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Benjamin Van Doren]

Bill & David -

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
mics).

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

Benjamin Van Doren
White Plains, NY

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma wrote:

> Awesome, Bill.
>
> Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
> the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
> early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.
>
> Cheers- and good listening!
>
> David
>
> ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
> should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.
>
>
> 
>
> David A. La Puma
> Postdoctoral Associate
> New Jersey Audubon Society
> 600 Route 47 North
> Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
> Office: 609.861.1608 x33
> Fax:609.861.1651
>
> Websites:
> http://www.woodcreeper.com
> http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com
>
> Photos:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans wrote:
>
>> Nfcers,
>>
>> I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
>> nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
>> two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
>> 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
>> of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
>> to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
>> migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
>> given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
>> and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
>> and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
>> interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.
>>
>> As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
>> surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
>> was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
>> documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
>> migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
>> tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
>> picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
>> & nonetheless.
>>
>> The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep
>> 10-11 rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were
>> off (http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but
>> you only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two
>> nights later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla
>> flight calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of the
>> higher numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of migrants
>> aloft burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density was nature-born
>> and the species composition a delightfully telling ancient echo. The flight
>> is now just a memory for a few of us, but indicative records remain:
>>
>> Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
>> download for another 24 hours or so at:
>> http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD records
>> from Albany, Watertown, Binghamton, and Buffalo, NY along with State
>> College, PA show sign of sustained 28+ dBZ biological reflectivity crossing
>> the breadth of interior NY (Albany to Buffalo) and moving southward across
>> central PA.
>>
>> The link below leads to a thermal image video I made during a period of
>> peak passage in the flight (11:15-12:00 EDT) from 610 m asl at the
>> Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area (15 km east of Ithaca, NY, US).
>> The flight activity shown in the video likely represents the lower portion
>> of 28+ dBz radar reflectivity that was occurring on this clear sky night --
>> targets were noted passing at a rate >100 per 5 minute period. This thermal
>> video was made with a rented FLIR P65 camera with a 23-degree lens. The
>> camera was pointed vertically toward the sky and positioned so that birds
>> heading from the NNE toward the SSW would appear heading in straight line
>> vertical motion from the bottom to the top of the screen of view.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpv4OVYDz0
>>
>> Anne Klingensmith & family operated an acoustic monitoring station in
>> Alfred, NY during the flight from 8PM 

Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[David La Puma]

Awesome, Bill.

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites:
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper






On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans wrote:

> Nfcers,
>
> I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
> nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
> two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
> 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
> of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
> to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
> migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
> given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
> and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
> and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
> interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.
>
> As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
> surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
> was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
> documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
> migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
> tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
> picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
> & nonetheless.
>
> The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep
> 10-11 rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were
> off (http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but
> you only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two
> nights later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla
> flight calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of the
> higher numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of migrants
> aloft burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density was nature-born
> and the species composition a delightfully telling ancient echo. The flight
> is now just a memory for a few of us, but indicative records remain:
>
> Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
> download for another 24 hours or so at:
> http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD records
> from Albany, Watertown, Binghamton, and Buffalo, NY along with State
> College, PA show sign of sustained 28+ dBZ biological reflectivity crossing
> the breadth of interior NY (Albany to Buffalo) and moving southward across
> central PA.
>
> The link below leads to a thermal image video I made during a period of
> peak passage in the flight (11:15-12:00 EDT) from 610 m asl at the
> Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area (15 km east of Ithaca, NY, US).
> The flight activity shown in the video likely represents the lower portion
> of 28+ dBz radar reflectivity that was occurring on this clear sky night --
> targets were noted passing at a rate >100 per 5 minute period. This thermal
> video was made with a rented FLIR P65 camera with a 23-degree lens. The
> camera was pointed vertically toward the sky and positioned so that birds
> heading from the NNE toward the SSW would appear heading in straight line
> vertical motion from the bottom to the top of the screen of view.
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wpv4OVYDz0
>
> Anne Klingensmith & family operated an acoustic monitoring station in
> Alfred, NY during the flight from 8PM to 6AM. Anne indicated to me that the
> Old Bird tseep detector extracted more than 1000 flight calls of warblers
> and sparrows during the ten hours. This is one of the highest clear night
> tseep call totals ever documented by this station, which has been in
> operation for 20 fall migration seasons. This calling is estimated to be
> largely from birds migrating within 300 m of the ground. Anne carried out a
> preliminary species analysis and reported 15 Wilson's Warbler flight calls
> among the 1000+ tseep notes (~1.5%). The acoustic data from this Alfred, NY
> station are planned to be put online at Oldbird.org in the near future.
>
> I ran an acoustic monitoring station for five hours from 9PM-2AM at my
> house near