[texbirds-freelists] [texbirds] NEXRAD radar observations of migrating birds in the western Gulf coast region; 3/9
- From: John Arvin <jarvin@xxxxxxxx>
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:37:47 -0500
NEXRAD yesterday failed to detect a major trans-Gulf arrival all along the
Texas, and probably the Louisiana coasts as well. There were almost no bird
returns over Gulf waters during several checks from late morning until late
afternoon. However both variety (23 species of warblers at High Island) and
numbers of individuals were high. The only way this could occur is if birds
were flying at low levels. This is common when bucking strong headwinds
over water but it is my first experience with the phenomenon when wind
speeds are very low. I'll keep looking into it to see what I can learn.
Today SE winds are up to 15 kt. at Merida and 14 at Brownsville. John
Tharp, meteorologist/birder from the Houston area tells me that winds will
be on the rise through the weekend ahead of a storm system sometime next
week. The more northerly reporting stations are still showing relatively
light and variable direction (SSE, W, and NW) winds but these should be
picking up and swinging more to the south. Whether this is a good thing for
birding the coast is another question. Usually under those conditions most
trans-Gulf arrivals ride the tail winds on inland before landing if there
is not unsettled weather to force them to land at first sight of the shore.
We shall see.
In a related post to Texbirds I described the lift-off imagery from
yesterday evening and how to view this yourself. I will forward to
LABIRD-L.
Today's displays look much like yesterday's. Only Corpus Christi is showing
much bird activity with a lot of raptor-like flocks in Brooks County moving
into western Kleberg County and others exiting the region to the north.
There are also a few returns from over the Gulf near shore. Otherwise
things look pretty much the same, but yesterday we saw that doesn't always
mean much.
John C. Arvin
Research Associate
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
103 West Hwy 332
Lake Jackson, TX 77566
jarvin@xxxxxxxx
www.gcbo.org
Austin, Texas
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