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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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) 

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)