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Posted by Toe on 15:32:34 08/27/13
In Reply to: Re: The birds left last night, why? posted by steve siegel
The weather was what promted me to go out yesterday, and I found just what I expected. A look at the Tropical Atlantic Satellite Imagery (http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-vis.html)showed me just what I wanted to see: winds pushing birds south with a strong band of clouds and rain extending from Texas around the tip of Florida and out into the Atlantic. The birds were being pushed south but had no choice but to settle down in our area.
In October 2011 we had a similar even where a tropical wave set itself just south of us for three days, acting as an impregnable wall keeping the birds from flying south. The result was the best birding I'd seen since 2004, when another series of weather events also caused big numbers of birds in our area.
Looking out the window right now, I can see that the conditions are such that most birds will probably have smooth sailing south, so it will take another weather event to replicate yesterday's results. Anything that acts as a barrier to the birds flight direction will get us birds, be it winds or rain or a combination of both. The birds will settle and wait for the opportune moment to continue their flight. In yesterday's case they didn't havet to wait long, since last nights northerly winds presented the perfect opportunity. No harm to the birds, but I got a chance to enjoy them anyway. I'll be closely watching the weather between now and October!
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