April 29th, 2015

Winds tonight. Click to view live.

Tonight's radar

Short report tonight, as northerly winds predominant in Illinois tonight. In most places, migration is less-than-light, most birds being kept down by the unfavorable headwinds. Southern and southwestern Illinois are the exceptions, with light to moderate concentrations showing bright blues and greens on the radar tonight. With the exception of those locations, though, arrivals and influxes should be pretty sparse tomorrow. Keep in mind that diurnal migrants (like swallows or most shorebirds) can still be moving northward during these conditions, so checking the lakefront is never a bad idea.

Now for a check-in on the forecast leading into this weekend. Disappointingly, it looks like Friday night may not hold the strong tailwinds once predicted. However, these stronger tailwinds are being replaced by weak and confused winds, which may still allow migration into Saturday morning, so I'll keep you posted. Saturday and Sunday nights, on the other hand, are looking to be extremely favorable, with strong southerly tailwinds to usher the birds northward. Whereas last night's report predicted that either Saturday or Sunday mornings could be the highlight of the weekend, it's now clear that Sunday morning will be the highlight. Big movements are expected, with the kind of arrivals that add a number of species to your list. I'm excited. You?

Winds forecast for Saturday night. Get
excited.

Good stuff. To keep track of what you'll be finding out there, here's that perpetually useful eBird page.

Have a great night, all, and good birding!