[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Toe on 09:04:18 04/13/15
Before anyone gets the impression that I'm deliberately spreading false rumors in an effort to make spring migration seem gloomy, let's take a realistic perspective using facts. Here are 3 eBird reports for yesterday, 4/12/15, from three migrant "hot spots" here in Dade County:
BILL BAGGS
Palm 1
Prairie - 1
MATHESON HAMMOCK
Ovenbird - 1
Worm-eating - 2
B&W - 4
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Prairie - 3
FAIRCHILD
Ovenbird - 2
B&W - 2
Redstart - 1
Cape May - 1
Parula - 5
Magnolia -1
As you can see, I'm not the one saying spring migration is slow, the reports are saying that! Other birders are saying that. Rangel Diaz and Jim King both acknowledged that in their reports. This is to be expected, since in spring the birds will just fly right over us unless there is some weather to put them down. This is a FACT, not some gloom that I'm spreading. What's more, most of the "marquis" warbler species and other migrants are trans-Gulf migrants that only rarely come throuth here in spring. Don't expect to see a dozen Cerulean Warblers in one location in South Florida, ever! You can have a good day in spring, with the right weather. I recal birding H.T. Birch park one day after work and after some rain in spring, and I had 15 species, with one large ficus alone holding easily 80 individual warblers, mostly BTBs, Redstarts, and lots and lots of Blackpolls. There were thousands of birds in that park that day. But, that's the exception.
For the past week, and for the week ahead, we have SE winds at 15-20 knots over the straights with clear skies, so don't expect the number of migrants in our area to increase. Again, this is a natural fact, not some prediction of doom. Unless the weather pattern cooperates against the birds, we will continue to see small numbers and diversity of warblers until we get the big push of Caribbean migrants in May, which is when the bigger numbers of Redstarts, BTBs and Blackpools come through. This is the reality of spring migration in South Florida, whether Toe says anything about it or not.
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]