Date: 3/27/25 6:36 pm From: Katherine Clemo via groups.io <kclemo54...> Subject: Re: [ALbirds] A primer on early migration for new birders
Thank you for this.
Katherine
On Thu, Mar 27, 2025, 4:46 PM Lucy & Bob Email via groups.io <RobertADuncan= <bellsouth.net...> wrote:
> Hi all, > > Early Neotropical passerine migrants have been moving through for the last > several days. Parula, Prothonotary, Hooded and Black & White Warblers and > Louisiana Waterthrushes and White-eyed Vireos. These species have > populations that winter in both the West Indies and Central and South Am. > Early in the season, March, early April, most of these arrivals are from > the Indies. Why? Early migrants doing Trans-Gulf migration risk > encountering strong cold fronts and adverse winds in the Gulf of Mexico. > Better to winter in the Indies and move up the Florida Peninsula or eastern > Gulf where land is down below or not far. Later in the season when the > Bermuda High is in position giving them SE or S tail winds is a better > deal. Populations of these same species move up later. > > Rain, the key ingredient for putting birds down in the immediate coastal > area, occurred on the 24th and sure enough, Lucy and I had several migrants > of the above species in our yard. This was not a classic Fallout (trees > dripping with birds). This is a rare event with fewer birds each year as > populations decline, but enough to put some down. > > So watch the forecast and hit the migrant traps when rain is forecast. > > Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, FL > > > > > -- > Lucy and Bob Duncan > Gulf Breeze, Florida > >
