News

Continental Summary This week’s migration forecast highlights favorable conditions for migrant arrivals in the Gulf Coast region and unfavorable conditions for migrants to advance into much of the West, Great Plains and Upper Midwest and Northeast because of late winter-early…

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…

Continental Summary This week’s migration forecast highlights the effects of a strong frontal boundary crossing the country, facilitating light and scattered moderate movements with its approach to a region and shutting down migration in its wake. West Generally unfavorable conditions…

Although we are still quite early in the season to discuss the potential for a “slingshot” event that might cause typically southern spring migrants to overshoot their intended destinations along the Atlantic Coast, and although these events are relatively rare…

Although some portions of the Western US will see light and scattered migration by the middle or end of this week (e.g. the Desert Southwest), this week’s weather is dominated by the passage of Winter Storm Saturn across the Central…

Enter the lion! A potentially substantial winter storm is brewing, Saturn, and forecasts suggest it will leave its mark across a wide swath of the northern US. We focus on the NE US in this post, because of the continuing…

As hinted in last week’s post, there was some potential for scattered light migration across portions of the South-Central and Southeastern US. On 19 February 2013, as a substantial frontal boundary approached the Mississippi River valley, conditions for nocturnal bird…

In our last post, we highlighted an area of southerly flow that is forecast for Sunday – Tuesday, 17-19 February 2013, from portions of Texas to the western Appalachians. Below, we provide a short animated clips to show the forecast…

Two interesting patterns may spice up the mid-February birding scene next week. High pressure building into the Southeastern US should bring a period of warmer, southerly flow to many areas of the Gulf Coast by Monday. These conditions may facilitate…

If the groundhog were a birder, perhaps he would have predicted six more weeks of a winter like this . . . We know that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow. Many in the US probably rejoice at his early…

January in the temperate Northern Hemisphere is not typically a time that most consider as falling within “spring migration.” Rather, local and facultative movements of  wintering birds and irruptive movements tend to dominate birding discussions, observations, and field trips. However, here…

So far, the negative NAO index that team BirdCast pondered late last year has yet to materialize with the strength of the October-November period. However, recent weather in Europe and some forecasts for the short term suggest the potential for…