4/28 IL Migration Report

Today was another great day to be birding. The lake front especially was hoppin' with rare sparrows and kin, with the obvious highlights being SMITH'S LONGSPURS that were present briefly at Montrose. Shorebirds were on the move throughout the state as part of today's diurnal migration, with a few highlights being MARBLED GODWITS, WILLETS, and of course the ever-fantastic WILSON'S PHALAROPES. Warblers continue to move north, with warblers like YELLOW WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER making it all the way to the northerly reaches of the state. Birds like ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK and GREAT CRESETED FLYCATCHER are also making their way toward the northern reaches of the state. There were too many good reports today to summarize here other than by saying that it's starting to feel like the migratory madness of spring again, even if it is a little late.

Tonight's smattering of winds

Tonight, Illinois has a smattering of southerly winds that lean east or west depending on where you are, but hey, southerly nonetheless (ESE in Northern IL, SSW in Central IL, WSW to negligible winds in Southern IL). We still aren't having the stronger southerly winds of Friday night, but migration is light to moderate at this point as there aren't any storm systems blocking it (http://bit.ly/ZJd7mw). Migration is the strongest in Southern IL right now (http://bit.ly/ZJd7mw), with moderate to heavy movement visible on radar. Central IL has the lightest migration right now, with the blue in this image (http://bit.ly/13F4E7d) being likely candidates for birds, and the brown-gray probably being some other noise. Northern IL has

NW IL

light to moderate migration at this point, with the highest concentrations of birds moving over NW IL: http://bit.ly/13F4X1P. So Southerly IL and NW IL are going to be the best places to bird on Monday/Funday.

Cool! So in case you're going birding tomorrow, keep an eye out for arrivals and influxes of BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS, GREEN HERON, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, SORA, VIRGINIA RAIL, COMMON GALLINULE, maybe SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, PECTORAL, SPOTTED, LEAST, and SOLITARY SANDPIPER, DUNLIN, UPLAND SANDPIPER, WILLET, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, FORSTER'S TERN, COMMON TERN, COMMON NIGHTHAWK, EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL, CHIMNEY SWIFT, RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD,

Southern IL

EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE, LEAST FLYCATCHER, GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER, BLUE-HEADED, WHITE-EYED, WARBLING and RED-EYED VIREO, HOUSE WREN, SEDGE WREN, MARSH WREN, all the expected swallows, all the expected sparrows (especially take note of LE CONTE'S SPARROWS, HENSLOW'S SPARROWS, GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, and LARK SPARROWS), SWAINSONS'S, GRAY-CHEEKED, and WOOD THRUSHES, warblers including but not limited to BLUE-WINGED WARBLERS, ORANGE CROWNED WARBLERS, PRAIRIE WARBLERS, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS, PINE WARBLERS, YELLOW WARBLERS, HOODED WARBLERS, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS, NORTHERN PARULAS, LOUISIANA + NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES, WORM-EATING WARBLERS, COMMON YELLOWTHROATS, SCARLET and SUMMER TANAGERS, ORCHARD and BALTIMORE ORIOLES, BREWER'S, RUSTY, and YELLOW HEADED BLACKBIRDS, INDIGO BUNTINGS, and possibly early DICKCISSELS or BOBOLINKS. And with migration, there are always chances of early overshoots and vagrants too.

That's all for tonight, folks.