As predicted yesterday the north winds kept migrants grounded last night. It looks like these conditions may hang around for a while too. I have a capture of the situation in today’s gallery. But i encourage anyone looking to get a handle on atmospheric conditions to visit Cameron’s website here.
A few more reports for the Portland Area: Lazuli Bunting, Western Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Nashville Warbler.
Wow — it’s getting hard to keep up. Western Kingbird, Willow Flycatcher, Lazuli Bunting, Solitary Sandpiper, Chipping Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and probably some i am forgetting, are now in the Portland area. Lots of these birds are setting new early arrival dates and it makes me wonder why they left their wintering grounds so early?
Anyway, another great night for nocturnal flight. Heavy migration was underway along the whole Pacific Flyway. We have an advancing high pressure system and the leading edge north winds may put a damper on migration over the next couple of days. It depends on how strong the winds are once they make landfall. So i put a wind map in today’s gallery to visualize whats going on.
We have an advancing ridge of high pressure and a retreating trough of low — always a dicey proposition for spring migrants headed north. There was a bit of movement last night, but it was on the moderate side at best.
Best chatter on the Pacific Flyway listserves comes from the Central Valley where Lazuli Bunting was noted. Also Yellow-headed Blackbird and Western Flycatcher have made it to the Portland area.
There was some excellent trans-Mexican Gulf migration conditions last night and the flight into Key West was spectacular. But for some reason i can’t download the file. Maybe Badbirdz will archive a loop today.
