4/27 IL Migration Report

Brown Thrasher sightings in the past 30 days

Today saw incredible numbers of birds--including arrivals and influxes--intercepted by birders using this almost perfect Saturday. I say almost, because migration was actually cut off in southerly Illinois by a line of storms, which ultimately created a wall between Illinois and migrants further south. Nonetheless, migrants used the predominantly southerly winds to their advantage en masse last night, with species like BROWN THRASHER, EASTERN TOWHEE, AMERICAN BITTERNS, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS becoming some of the most common species even in Northern IL. Elsewhere, new warblers, shorebirds, raptors, and influxes of these groups continued to fill in today, making it truly a day to be reckoned so far as this late spring goes. And having participated in a Big Day in Lake County today, it was more than exciting to be out there from the pre-dawn hours to sunset. Expect a report of this soon. It may be rather exciting as well ;).

Tonight's a bit iffy for migration (see the image to the right to see why). That counterclockwise spinning sphere of wind just east of Illinois is a small but powerful low-pressure system. Seeing as it is

so small, the bottom two thirds of the state are experiencing this interesting gradient of wind directions, and literally on top of this winds, precipitation.  This is putting a damper on migration for tonight, except for the northern third of the state, which is now experiencing weak southerly winds and light to moderate migration. It seems that the result of tonight's weather phenomenon will be northerly winds throughout the state tomorrow, which oppose migration directly. Sunday night, resulting from a complex of weather systems throughout the Midwest, these winds http://bit.ly/ZxyRq6. This means that though new birds may remain in your area tomorrow, not nearly as much migration is forecast tonight as it was yesterday.

For a list of species to keep an eye out for, see my blog post from yesterday: http://scienceofbirds.blogspot.com/2013/04/426-il-migration-report.html

Awesome work today, Illinois! Keep on keeping' on.