Major Migration In The Ohio Valley

NWS Central Great Lakes radar, 4/7/13, 4:18am (image from the National Weather Service)

The wind was finally from the south overnight.  This morning’s pre-dawn weather radar shows a little rain and a lot of birds.

The blue circles over the cities are radar locations picking up lots of small bodies flying north.  Yes, birds!

If you live in any of these blue circle zones, today would be a great day to go birding — unless it’s storming.

p.s.  There was not a lot of migration activity on the East Coast.  Their wind was probably unfavorable.

(radar image from the National Weather Service Central Great Lakes. Click on the image to see the most recent view.)

6 thoughts on “Major Migration In The Ohio Valley

  1. Hi Kate!

    I’m in SW Ohio/Cincinnati/Hamilton County, right where one of your circles is! Any idea what would be migrating through my area right now? It’s a bit early for the hummingbirds to be here, but our temperatures are starting to warm up, so I think it won’t be long. I’ve learned to not put feeders out for the hummingbirds much before Mother’s Day.

    1. Joan, I’d expect ducks, blackbirds, sparrows, the beginning of shorebirds and maybe some truly spring birds such as blue-gray gnatcatchers. Gnatcatchers were as close as Marshall County, Kentucky (west of Land Between The Lakes) yesterday.

  2. Just saw my first yellow-bellied sapsucker of the year while saying good morning to the cardinal outside my front windows. For once I’ll give those cardinals a pat on the back for being so loud. Hadn’t seen a sapsucker for a couple of years since they hung around for an extended stay in Pittsburgh a few springs ago when there was all the tree damage from a large snowfall.

  3. Message for Joan:

    Joan, you shouldn’t wait until Mother’s Day to put out a humfeeder if you want to see the early RTHU migrants. If you check Lanny Chambers’ migration map, http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html , you’ll see that there’s a report already from northern Kentucky around Louisville. It’s true that most of the reports are still from Tennessee, but you never know. If you put out a feeder now, you might get the honor of reporting Ohio’s first RTHU of 2013!

  4. Hi Kate,
    I posted a comment on the Pittsburgh Falconuts Facebook page about a raptor I witnessed today. I have never seen one like this in our area (central PA). Not sure if this could be a migratory bird or not. I usually see red-tailed hawks but have never seen a hawk/raptor quite like this one.

    Thank you for your blog. It is something I always enjoy! Keep up the great work. By the way, I also heard you on the Aviary on the Air show on KQV. You did a great job! 🙂

    Take care,
    Meg

  5. Saturday morning saw the first tree swallow at the farm pond….swooping in for a drink. Did the usual double take as it was COLD out…..They always suprise me. Located in Carroll County, Ohio…

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