Next to actually watching birds stream north in spring, I think I most enjoy watching their radar echoes as they stream north in spring. My personal favorite compilation is featured at Paul Hurtado’s Birding Page. (Thank you Paul for this resource!) New Jersey Audubon features this page that provides an excellent explanation of NEXRAD and bird migration.
Yesterday (3/16/15) was warm (80s F) and windy, with gusts from the south up to about 20 mph. It was setting up to be a big flight for northbound migrants.
The action started just after 5 pm (with local sunset around 8 pm here in Stillwater) and was still going this morning with echoes up to the most recent image taken 7:41 this morning, 3/17/15. Here’s the apparent peak from last night ~ 8:41 pm:
One (of many) cool thing I noticed concerned the flow of radar echo intensity from the TX/LA coast and then in central Arkansas. Check out this sequence:
5:41 pm, 3/16/15
7:41 pm, 3/16/15
9:41 pm, 3/16/15
11:41 pm, 3/16/15
1:41 am, 3/17/15
3:41 am, 3/17/15
5:41 am, 3/17/15
The only question remaining is why I’m still indoors today!
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