Last night's brisk north winds and higher ceilings held out promise for some
movement of birds, but no avian sounds were heard overhead at Cape Charles
through 2230 last night or after 0540 this morning. It's likely that winds
were
too strong aloft for many passerines (high winds also make it harder to hear).
Les Willis pointed out that lower ceilings may also lower the altitude at
which the birds are migrating. Jay Keller gently pointed out that I omitted my
tally of Swainson's Thrush (230+) from the previous posting (thanks, Jay)
regarding the previous 3 nights. (Thanks! - need more coffee!) (I should say
again that these counts are tendentious, and I always have the feeling that
Swainson's Thrushes give their Spring-Peeper-like nf-call more frequently than
other thrushes give theirs - a subjective impression at best - so caveat
emptor.)
If winds are lighter tonight and tomorrow morning, and they persist from the
north, we may have the last push of Neotropical migrants and first really big
push of the short-distance migrants this week. On the coast, much depends on
wind direction, too, but in the mountains, (nocturnal) migration seemed to me
to be more regular and easily predictable.
Ned Brinkley
Cape Charles, VA
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