Friday, May 27, 2016

5-28-16: Final Spring 2016 Migration Report

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, Illinois is experiencing very little migration due to the weather systems that are moving across the state. This doesn't; however, mean that the birding will be "bad" tomorrow - it just means there will be little turnover which actually might be a good thing in that it means it is keeping those migrants around at least one night longer. ;-)

This will be the final migration report of spring 2016 - I sincerely hope they have proven to be helpful, concise, and informative this season and I will be writing them again in the fall.

Finally, I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows migration is not over yet! Many birds (flycatchers, "ground warblers," etc) migrate through well into June, so definitely keep seeking out migrant birds even though I won't be writing these reports until the fall. I usually would want to write until the last night in May; however, I will be out of internet range for most of this weekend because I will be in Michigan (attending a wedding, and in search of Piping Plover & Kirtland's Warbler!).

Happy migration everyone, hope you've all enjoyed the beautiful spectacle of spring migration, surely one of the most wonderful things nature has to offer!

Feel free to email anytime (I will still be posting trip reports on IBET like always), and you can find my birding blog here: worldbirding.travellerspoint.com

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

5-26-16

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, with overall favorable winds across the state, a moderate flight of migrants is flying over the entire state tonight This means that, once again, it would be prudent to get out to your local hotspot tomorrow (Thursday), wherever you are located in the state, to look for late-end-of-the-spectrum migrants.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

5-25-16

Hello birding friends,

With southerly winds again, the entirety of Illinois is experiencing moderate migration over our skies tonight, so tomorrow (Wednesday) would not be a bad day to get out and look for late-migration species.

Loving this warmer weather!

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Monday, May 23, 2016

5-24-16

Hello birding friends,

With the southerly winds tonight, there is uniformly moderately-heavy migration over the entirety of the state, so wherever you may be, tomorrow would be a good day to get out to search for some of the migrants that come through on the later end of the spectrum.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Sunday, May 22, 2016

5-23-16

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, Illinois is experiencing moderate levels of migration in the northern two-thirds of the state to moderate and somewhat heavy densities of migrating birds over the southern third of the state. Tomorrow (Monday) should be a good morning to get out if you can! Now that it is approaching the final stages of spring migration, let's enjoy these migrant birds while we still can.

Looking ahead, I will be posting through this week, and Friday night (May 27) will be the final migration report of this spring - although that certainly doesn't mean that spring migration ends Friday; it should last until about mid-June with some species.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Saturday, May 21, 2016

5-22-16

Hello birding friends,

Moderate migration tonight with moderately heavy levels in the far southern tip and also the northeastern part of the state tonight...it might be a good morning tomorrow (Sunday) to check Lake Michigan locations because of the westerly component to the winds, pushing birds toward the lakefront.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Thursday, May 19, 2016

5-20-16

Hello birding friends,

Moderate to heavy migration statewide tonight due to only very light winds across the state. It should be a good day to get out anywhere, but especially in the southern third of the state where rain later in the night could ground any flyover migrants, meaning there is possibly a chance for fallout conditions in that area.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

5-19-16

Hello birding friends,

Moderate migration statewide tonight so I would suggest getting out tomorrow (Thursday) morning because there is a good chance for turnover in many areas.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

5-16-16

Hello birding friends,

Today, the northern three-quarters of the state are experiencing moderately heavy to heavy levels of avian movement with the first noteworthy southerly winds in a few days. The southern quarter of the state appears to be quieter tonight. It would be a good idea to check lakefront locations tomorrow (I'll be at Montrose!), because the winds in northeast Illinois are out of the south to the southwest tonight, meaning that in addition to a tailwind, the birds will also be "funnelled" along the Lake Michigan shoreline by the westerly component to the winds because the birds don't want to fly over the lake.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County) 

Friday, May 13, 2016

5-14-16

Hello birding friends,

The southern quarter of Illinois should see some interesting conditions tonight because moderate - heavy migration levels are being interrupted by the rain system that is currently moving through the state tonight. Other areas should not see much movement at all tonight with northwesterly winds following behind the rain system.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

5-12-16

Hello birding friends,

I encourage birders at the far southern tip of the state to get out tomorrow (Thursday) morning because moderately high levels of birds are flying into the state from the south; however, they are being forced to make landfall due to the storms that are prevalent in most of the state tonight.

For most of Illinois, storms will limit bird migration tonight; however, there is a chance for rather patchy avian movement once the storms clear out of some areas. Favorable southerly winds are in effect tonight, so it wouldn't hurt to get out tomorrow to check for new arrivals and influxes.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

5-11-16

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, the entire state is experiencing HEAVY to EXTREMELY HEAVY densities of birds migrating over our skies! Get out tomorrow (Wednesday, May 11) wherever you are! This is the heaviest migration levels I have seen all spring, and possibly the heaviest level I have ever seen for the far southern tip of the state. DEFINITELY get out tomorrow, there should be a MASSIVE turnover!

Good birding!
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Sunday, May 8, 2016

5-9-16

Hello birding friends,

For the northern third of the state, tonight there are moderate to heavy concentrations of birds migrating over our skies, meaning there should be many, many birds around the northern third of the state tomorrow (Monday) and I STRONGLY encourage you to get out if you can.

The central and southern part of Illinois is experiencing little migration tonight due to the rain system; however, the far southern tip of Illinois, which is avoiding the rain for the most part, should see evidence of high levels of migration tomorrow morning.

Happy Mother's Day!
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Friday, May 6, 2016

5-7-16

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, the entire state of Illinois is experiencing moderately heavy levels of bird migration. With winds out of the west to the west-southwest, it would certainly be a great idea to bird lakefront migrant traps such as Montrose tomorrow morning (Saturday, May 7). Also, there is a possibility for fallout in the northernmost fifth of the state where thundershowers will be intercepting bird migration. So definitely get out tomorrow morning, especially if you are in the northern part of the state! Any day now, the "floodgate" could open - and there is a good possibility that for many parts of the state, tomorrow (Saturday) morning will be it!

Good birding!
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Thursday, May 5, 2016

5-6-16

Hello birding friends,

Tonight, the northern half and southwestern portions of Illinois are experiencing moderate to heavy concentrations of migrating birds. With the light southwesterly winds acting as tailwinds and funneling birds along the lakeshore tonight, I STRONGLY recommend visiting lakefront sites such as Montrose Point tomorrow (Friday, May 6) morning. Any hotspot within the areas of the state mentioned above would certainly be worth checking; however, and I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled on the way to and from school!

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

5-4-16

Hello birding friends,

Today, the southern two-thirds of Illinois should be experiencing moderate to heavy migration levels due to southwesterly winds (while the northern third's migration levels should be limited due to rain showers). So tomorrow (Wednesday, May 4), expect moderate levels of turnover in the southern two-thirds of the state, increasing farther southward.

Good birding,
Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)

Monday, May 2, 2016

5-3-16

Hello birding friends,

Although winds are from the northwest tonight pretty much across the state, they are much lighter tonight which means that I expect there should be moderate migration statewide. It might be smart to check Lake Michigan lakefront sights such as Montrose tomorrow due to the slight westerly component to the wind which will funnel birds slightly to the shoreline because they don't want to fly out over the lake.

Good birding! So happy it's finally May!

Henry Griffin (Oak Park, Cook County)