5/17 IL Migration Report

I have to do the report a little early tonight, so please excuse the lack of references to radar. It's not quite active yet.

Neat view of winds in IL tonight

Winds in IL right now are fairly simple to interpret: unfavorable easterly winds in the northern half of the state and favorable (yet weak) southerly to southeasterly winds in the southern half of the state. This means migration will, for the most part, be concentrated in the southern half of the state tonight, likely with light migration in the north. As the night progresses, winds are forecast to become progressively weaker and progressively more easterly; in spite of this, migration should be moderate tonight, but don't expect too many huge arrivals or influxes tomorrow that are different from today, unless you're in southerly Illinois. One area to keep an eye on tomorrow with the east winds is the lakefront, as any shorebird movement will be blown in toward the shore. Lakewatches for shorebirds may be fairly productive, but it's by no means certain, as winds aren't as southerly along the lakefront. We'll see how the winds and the birds they carry play out tomorrow.

Winds are forecast to remain southeasterly throughout the state for much of the weekend until midday Sunday, so it looks like Sunday night may again see the largest concentrations of migrants out of this weekend. Not a bad weekend for migrants though, to be sure. For the Northern half of the state, see this wind forecast: http://bit.ly/10Qj1Zr. For the Southern half, see here: http://bit.ly/10QiZAS.

Lots of birds have been moving through IL the past few days, with more than 20 warbler species, 3 vireo species, 3 spotted thrush species, orioles, catbirds, gnatcatchers, sparrows, and all that jazz commonplace on birders' lists. Less frequently reported highlight species to keep an eye out for include YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, WHITE-EYED VIREO, CERULEAN WARBLER, HOODED WARBLER, SUMMER TANAGER, BLACK TERN, and PIPING PLOVER.

To figure out which species to look for in your area, here are the eBird resources I've made a habit of sharing.
General IL charts: http://bit.ly/129Tru1
Make your own: http://bit.ly/129Tfed

Happy Friday, everybody; I'll be out there with you tomorrow. Good luck!