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Moderate and even locally heavy flights featuring Sandhill Crane, Dunlin, Merlin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, White-crowned Sparrow, and Golden-crowned Sparrow punctuated this period in the West, while moderate to heavy flights of Broad-winged Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Magnolia Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Palm Warbler, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Purple Finch occurred in the East following the passage of a significant cold front.

Light to moderate flights in the West last weekend featured Bufflehead, Cackling Goose, Ring-necked Duck, Herring Gull, Varied Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco, while several pulses of moderate to very heavy flights in the East featured Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Northern Harrier, Wilson’s Snipe, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Meadowlark, Snow Bunting, White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, and Field Sparrow.

Continental Summary Scattered moderate movements that began the weekend gave way to much more widespread moderate and even locally heavy movements in the West, while a pulse of moderate to heavy movements kicked off the first half of the week…

Continental Summary Light to moderate movements were the norm for the West and the East this week, as fall migration gradually becomes more apparent with each week. Birds on the move this week included Great Egret, Baird’s, White-rumped, Solitary, and…

Moderate movements were the norm in many areas of the West this period and featured Say’s Phoebe, American Pipit, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Townsend’s Warbler, Fox Sparrow, and Lincoln’s Sparrow, while moderate to heavy flights featuring Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler dominated the early and late days of the period in the East. Hurricane Irma brought a nasty dose of devastation to portions of the Southeast, while carrying a large array of storm-borne vagrants.

Continental Summary Locally light to moderate movements in the West over the weekend and a pulse of more widespread light to moderate movements from the Great Plains through the Southeast to begin the work week were the primary migration highlights…

Scattered moderate movements featuring Swainson’s Hawk, Vaux’s Swift, Bank Swallow, Yellow-breasted Chat, Summer Tanager, and Western Tanager were the migration highlights for the period in the West, while moderate to locally heavy movements associated with the passage of a strong frontal boundary through the East featured Green Heron, Broad-winged Hawk, Sora, Common Nighthawk, Warbling Vireo, House Wren, Palm Warbler, and Baltimore Oriole.

Several widespread pulses of moderate to heavy flights featuring White-rumped Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Alder Flycatcher, Blackpoll Warbler, and Mourning Warbler punctuated the week across the East, while mid week moderate to locally heavy flights along the eastern Rockies were highlights of the period’s assemblage of Black Tern, Least Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Plumbeous Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and Blue Grosbeak in the West.

West Scattered light migration was apparent in some areas of the West, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The image below, from Thursday evening 14 March 2013, shows light movements in California and portions of the Desert Southwest. Some of…

Locally light and moderate flights featuring Cackling Goose, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, White-winged Scoter, Ferruginous Hawk, Dunlin, Merlin, White-throated Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow punctuated the migration scene in the West during this period, while an early and late pulse of moderate and heavy movements featuring Pied-billed Grebe, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Pipit, Marsh Wren, Orange-crowned Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Nelson’s Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco graced the East.

Continental Summary Widely scattered light to locally moderate movements occurred in the West, while the East experienced widespread light to moderate and locally heavy movements early in the week.  Species on the move this week included Canada Goose, Gadwall, Ring-necked…

The past week in the West saw light to moderate flights primarily in the southern portion of the region featuring Swainson’s Hawk, Vaux’s Swift, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, and Lazuli Bunting, while moderate and locally heavy flights came to many areas of the East and featured Marbled Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit, Swainson’s Thrush, Wood Thrush, House Wren, Northern Parula, Tennessee Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.