Welcome to the last full week of migration reports for autumn 2015! I plan on posting every day this week except for Wednesday night. This Friday, October 30th will be the last migration report of the season because it would be a bummer to have to write one on Halloween and I don't plan on reporting in November. I can't believe how quickly this autumn season has gone by!
As seen on the current national composite radar (http://tempest.aos.wisc.edu/radar/us3comp.gif), Illinois is experiencing varying levels of migration tonight. Northeast Illinois is experiencing a light to moderate flight, northwest Illinois is experiencing a moderate flight, southeast Illinois is experiencing a moderate to heavy flight, and southwest Illinois is experiencing a heavy to very heavy concentration of migrants tonight.
Hawk Watching Forecast: Tomorrow, conditions in northeast Illinois look rather unfavorable for hawk watching because although raptors will have a tailwind tomorrow, winds will be out of the northeast, meaning hawks won't be pushed to the Lake Michigan shoreline by westerly winds at all. Also, viewing conditions should be unfavorable with sunny to partly sunny skies expected.
Some species to start looking out for should be Snow Bunting (lakefront & agricultural areas), Lesser Scaup, Bonaparte's Gull, Common Loon, Horned Grebe (water bodies), and Horned Lark (grasslands & agricultural areas). Also, a large low pressure system that will be entering the area has the chance to turn up some western vagrants (Cave & Violet-green Swallows come to mind). Keep your eyes peeled!
To predict exactly which species you are likely to encounter and when, please consult:
BirdCast's updated regional migration forecast for this week: http://birdcast.info/forecast/regional-migration-forecast-23-30-october-2015/#MidwestNortheast
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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
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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