5/25 IL Migration Report

Light migration tonight interrupted by storms and easterly
winds

So, as predicted, tonight is only holding light levels of migration. Luckily, a lot of the east to northeasterly winds that are present in the prairie state are weak, and thus some birds are still moving (http://hint.fm/wind/). Also in migrants' favor, a warm front is beginning to move northward through the south of the state, and may bring some southerly winds with it (see below). In spite of this, expect tomorrow's birds to be largely the same as today's. This means that, again, lists will be dominated by breeding species with influxes of thrushes, flycatchers, and shorebirds. On the shorebird front especially, some interesting species have been showing up sporadically, with WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and RUDDY TURNSTONE being some of the highlights along the lakefront (Check out the map at the bottom of the report). Just because the birds are well documented, check out the Red-necked Phalaropes (4!!!) reported from northern Cook Co.: http://bit.ly/13UInAq. Not bad, eh? Who knows...there could be a few in your local patch.

Check out that northbound warm front...is anyone else
excited by that?

Anyway, yet another day passes with an unchanging forecast. Winds will remain to be easterly into tomorrow, when the winds will begin to shift into a more southerly range. Southeasterly winds should prevail by tomorrow night (Northern IL Wind Forecast: http://bit.ly/ZxyRq6, Southern IL Wind Forecast: http://bit.ly/124R3WX). This means that any restless birds waiting to move will probably do on Sunday, so keep an eye on the winds and the radar.

To figure out which species to look for in your area, here are the eBird resources I've made a habit of sharing. Overall, keep your eyes peeled for arrivals and influxes of flycatchers, thrushes, late warblers, hummingbirds, and any shorebirds.
General IL charts: http://bit.ly/129Tru1
Make your own: http://bit.ly/129Tfed

Good stuff. Happy birding everyone!

White-rumped Sandpiper reports on eBird in the past 30 days. Click to play with this page yourself.