Date: 11/4/24 5:13 pm From: 'C or M Johnstone' via NFLbirds <nflbirds...> Subject: RE: [NFLbirds] Late migrants continue
An observation from my new perch in northern LP of Michigan. Since arriving here on 8/25, temperatures have been well above normal, winds have been unusually and consistently strong from the south, and the very few "cold" fronts we've had have been weak with north trending winds lasting only briefly before swinging back south. I imagine these conditions have retarded some departures from these parts.
Matt Johnstone
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From: "Galveston Ornithological Society" <galornsoc...>
Sent: 11/4/24 6:15 PM
To: "'Lucy and Bob Duncan'" <robertaduncan...>,"'Nflbirds'" <nflbirds...>
Subject: RE: [NFLbirds] Late migrants continue
I have a different take on this.
We on the Texas Coast got GOBS of songbird migrants after Florida’s unfortunate hurricanes and it was surely attributed to the east-to-west winds ahead of the storms.
However, as I still have nonwintering warblers, etc., in my yard, and yall as well, I believe this is because of the virtual absence of cool fronts in October. I’m sure you folks have noticed this. In my graduate work for Fran James at FSU, I was seeing cool fronts every 4-5 days. And you can bet I was there on those days!
Should we be concerned about the lack of north winds during the fall neotropical migration? You damn right we should. I recorded between a dozen and twenty species of warblers per day back then, often with hundreds of warbler migrants a day. How long has it been since…?
What we need is political will and leadership to make the environment a real priority.
Jim in Galveston
From: <nflbirds...> <nflbirds...> On Behalf Of Lucy and Bob Duncan
Sent: Monday, November 4, 2024 4:53 PM
To: Nflbirds <nflbirds...>; Albirds <albirds...>
Subject: [NFLbirds] Late migrants continue
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Hi all,
Reports from Dean & Sally Jue from Tallahassee, another from Cantonment about 20 mi N of Pensacola and from what we have had in our yard today and yesterday (5 thrushes of 3 spp and other passerine migrants) indicate unusual numbers of late migrants still coming through. I suggest they were delayed in their normal progress by Hurricane Helene which drenched the Appalachians during the height of Fall migration. With this strong E influence we have had for about a week, I suggest they are reaching the coast and then moving W to LA and crossing the Gulf from there or making a complete circum-Gulf transit to the tropics. Hopefully they will NOT attempt a direct movement with the storm headed toward the Yucatan Channel tomorrow.
