News

Medium to high intensity migration spanned the latitudinal breadth of the central US last night.

Birders in eastern North America should keep their eyes open, especially in coastal and lakeshore locations, for Cave Swallows this weekend and in the weeks to come. The passage of a strong weather systems, like the cold front moving through the northeastern US today, hearkens the start of a period during which this species can occur, occasionally in significant numbers, far outside of its typical southern ranges.

Hurricane Harvey is rapidly intensifying in the Gulf of Mexico. This dangerous storm is forecast to strike the Texas coast on Friday night or Saturday morning as a major hurricane and then meander in the immediate vicinity of the coast for several days. Entrainment and displacement of seabirds is highly likely.

As forecast last week on the BirdCast site, a strong frontal boundary is moving East across the US. The high resolution image below, which is very large (!), shows light to moderate movements of inbound trans-Gulf migrants off the Texas…

As of approximately 3pm Central Daylight Time, some intense thunderstorms are about to interact with an inbound trans-Gulf migration event.

17-19 May 2020 may bring an interesting shorebird event to the Pacific Coast of North America. An approaching strong storm system well timed to coincide with movements of spring shorebird migrants in the eastern Pacific could entrain and displace an array of unusual species.

Although Tropical Storm Arthur is not predicted to make landfall, winds associated with the system’s passage will impact the coastal US from the Carolinas through southern New England in the coming days. These winds, depending on location, may be sustained at 20-30 knots for several days, and could bring an array of typically pelagically distributed species ashore.

BirdCast is updating the previous migration alert for the Gulf Coast. This update is as of 5pm EDT 3 April 2014. Conditions are favorable for a moderate exodus of birds from Mexico and portions of northern Central America later tonight (Thursday…

A strong frontal boundary is currently moving east toward the Mississippi valley, having passed over the Texas coast and portions of Louisiana. This boundary is spawning strong storms and areas of precipitation (some of which is intense). Its passage coincided…

As forecast last week, a frontal boundary is approaching the Texas and Louisiana coasts this morning. The map below shows the current conditions in Texas and along the Gulf Coast. Note that barbs and wind flags represent the direction from which…

Birders in northeastern North America should watch for Northern Lapwing, among other European vagrants, as low pressure over the North Atlantic couples with easterly flow associated with the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation and cold, snowy conditions in western Europe.

Hurricane Harvey’s path of destruction has seen unprecedented and catastrophic events in coastal Texas. Some birders have been out safely documenting what they have seen, and numerous typically pelagic or near shore species have been displaced far inland from the coast.