Tonight, wherever it is not raining in Illinois, the state is experiencing light concentrations of migration. This does not mean a large influx of birds will be easily noticeable tomorrow morning, but there is more movement tonight than for most of this week, as evidenced by the uniform blue radar noise on the current national composite radar as of posting time at 10:35pm: (http://tempest.aos.wisc.edu/radar/us3comp.gif)
Also, the fact that birds are migrating where there is not storms means that southern Illinois should be experiencing more movement than northern regions of the state tonight due to the bulk of the precipitation once again being in the northern part of the state.
What to expect for the next couple of days? Maybe slightly more arrivals and influxes tomorrow morning; however, I am forecasting a big push of birds arriving Sunday morning after the first night of light, northerly winds following a week of headwinds - meaning that birds that have been grounded for a relatively long time will "spring into action" tomorrow night and turnover should be visible on Sunday.
Liz Day Shorebird Forecast: Basically as I have been saying over the last few days, there are some perks to looking for shorebirds late in the season for rare possibilities such as Red Knot; however, I believe that many birders should be focusing their concentration now on the migrant warblers and other songbirds because before we know it, many will have left by the time October comes around - which is when I will terminate these mini shorebird reports until next April. Enjoy the neotropical migrants while you can!
To predict exactly which species you are likely to find and when, please consult:
BirdCast's new regional migration forecast for this coming week: http://birdcast.info/forecast/regional-migration-forecast-18-25-september-2015/
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eBird's species occurrence chart for Illinois: http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?src=changeDate&getLocations=states&states=US-IL&parentState=US-IL&reportType=location&monthRadio=on&bMonth=08&eMonth=11&bYear=1900&eYear=2015&continue.x=63&continue.y=9&continue=Continue
I love migration. Today just while walking home from school I saw a Great Blue Heron fly over my hometown Oak Park, which is an anomaly because OP is relatively far away from the nearest water source (Des Plaines River). It is only the fifth GB Heron I have ever seen here, and they have all been flyover sightings. I hope all of you are getting out and enjoying the magic of migration! I will certainly be doing so this weekend by leading two Oak Park Bird Walks (btw, the Sunday 8am walk still has 3 spaces open!).
So it wouldn't hurt to go birding tomorrow (Saturday) morning; however, I strongly encourage that birders try to get out on Sunday!
Good birding,
Henry (Oak Park, Cook County)
trumpetswan@comcast.net
ilmigration.blogspot.com
worldbirding.travellerspoint.com
sites.google.com/site/opbirdwalks/
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