Date: 4/4/24 7:14 am From: Lucy & Bob Email <RobertADuncan...> Subject: [ALbirds] Analysis of yesterday's coastal birding
Hi all,
Looking at reports from St. Marks to Dauphin Is., the front with its strong NW & W winds vectored a Trans-Gulf movement to the eastern Panhandle. Elizabeth Hawkins described what was a classic fallout at St. George Is. and St. Marks had a large fallout of R. E. Vireos.
Over here in the western Panhandle we came up short, as expected. Checking the paucity of reports from the AL coast, birders there suffered the same fate. Disappointingly, few if any migrants came in to Gulf Breeze overnight from what I have observed so far.
The rain associated with the front dissipated as it approached the Pensacola area but regenerated and extended into the Gulf as it approached the eastern Panhandle, producing classic fallout conditions there. Lucky were the birders who braved the weather and got in on the spectacle!
For the benefit of the legions of new birders in the area, I cannot emphasize enough the importance that WIND DIRECTION AND VELOCITY have on where and when migrants coming from the tropics will make landfall. Cornell's BIRDCAST is great (but not infallible) for predicting Fall movements coming into our area, but it does not help us when it comes to Spring migration. So for that, we must rely on weather information available to us. I rely heavily on the Marine Forecast (NOAA) for wind forecasts about a week ahead.
NW winds will abate by Sat. and swing around to SE and migration will resume, with the thrust toward the TX - LA coasts through Sun. Beyond that, watch the forecast but don't forget West Indian migrants can still be moving through our area.
Bob DuncanGulf Breeze, FL
