Birding Forecast Cape May Bird Observatory
Map by Point Source using radar data from the National Weather Service , Radar 4 GIS

At-a-Glance Key

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Migration Forecast for May 21 - 25 (UPDATED)
posted by David La Puma | 6:34 AM


At-a-Glance Forecast






















Wed.PMThu.AMThu.PMFri.AMFri.PMSat.AMSat.PMSun.AM



Saturday 5/24/08:Contrary to expectations, birds took to the sky on Friday night and the mid-Atlantic received a new installment of seasonal migrants...

Update 5/23/08 @ 5:30AM

Westerly winds over Virginia on Thursday night allowed for heavy migration as far as the Delmarva Peninsula, but no further. Birders along the western shore of the Delmarva should be on the lookout for new arrivals on Friday morning.


Migration Weather Forecast

Low pressure moving out to sea will give way to high pressure building in over the Hudson Bay, increasing northerly flow over the region and effectively shutting down migration for a few days.

Wednesday Night

Wednesday night will be the best chance for migration this week, as winds at all levels will be out of the west, and not yet northwesterly. Given the light-to-moderate levels of migration seen lately, I'm going to speculate that migration will remain as such for Wednesday night.

Thursday - Saturday Night

By Thursday night winds should turn west/northwest both at the surface, and at higher altitudes, effectively shutting down migration over the mid-Atlantic. As high pressure tracks to the east during the latter part of the week, winds will turn northwesterly (Friday night) and northerly (Saturday night). Right now it looks like a warm and beautiful weekend... but it's not looking likely that migration will be a big part of it (but planting tomatoes will!... I digress).

Birding Forecast

Thursday Morning

With moderate levels of migrants taking flight on Wednesday night, expect some new birds to arrive at spring migration hotspots on Thursday morning. Westerly flow should push birds to the coast, favoring locations such as Sandy Hook and Island Beach State Park.

Friday - Sunday Morning

With little to no new migration expected, birding conditions be similar to Thursday morning, with some localized movement of birds into optimal foraging habitat. Nevertheless, warming temperatures and clearing skies will make for some beautiful weekend birding. This is a great time of the year to venture into the many forested areas around the mid-Atlantic, where bird diversity is peaking between the resident species, breeding migrants, and those just "passing through".

As always, to find more information on what's being seen TODAY in Cape May, check out the View From the Cape, on BirdCapeMay.org

Good Birding,

David La Puma