Migrating through the big picture

As exciting and memorable as spring migration is, it’s safe to say that much of what defines a “successful” migration for birding comes down to seeing just a handful of individuals during the month or two that they pass through the area. Of the numerous highlights Sarah and I had last year, one sighting in particular that was especially thrilling: a Cerulian Warbler at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. One bird. One individual. ONE! That’s all it takes to make the month, season, year and life (etc etc etc) lists.

Looking back over my list from last spring, there were several birds like this- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue-winged Warbler, and Blackpoll Warbler. There were others where I saw so many that they became unremarkable, like Chestnut-sided Warblers, Nashville Warblers or Black-throated Green Warblers. Not that these birds aren’t beautiful and exciting to see, but they became regulars on our daily or weekly excursions.

But neither of these cases really capture what’s going on, does it? I say that Chestnut-sideds were common, but our Ebird data says we saw 28 birds. Nashvilles? 49. Black-throated greens? 24. That’s still not really anything when it comes to the birds that passed through the area. We surely don’t see every last on of them! And it doesn’t even start to describe the population! It’s really quite a challenge to get your mind around what’s really going on with this spring migration: tens (hundreds?) of millions of individuals across 500+ species moving north all in the span of 2-3 months.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the installation of weather radar systems across the US allowed for better weather tracking and monitoring. And since radar is really just a system to bounce radio waves off things in the air, ornithologists were able to use this technology to monitor and start understanding bird migration patterns. Suffice it to say, there have been several technological advances since the original radar units were installed, and the radar imagery, data analysis and data mining/machine learning algorithms have added to the vast quantity of information researchers can glean from an evening’s worth of radar scans.

For some background and neat information, here are some links:

Clemson University Radar Ornithology Page

Sidney Gauthreaux writes for Gulf Coast Bird Observatory

Ebird Radar Ornithology Basics

As a quick what-are-we-looking-at, taking the national radar map, one can easily see our normal weather patterns and storms that are talked about on the evening news.

5:11PM on April 26, 2013

But come sun-down, there is a mass exodus of migrating birds, as seen on the radar image as the light blue halos around each radar station (or green blobs around the Texas coast!).

1:11 AM on April 27, 2013

I think this these images are most impressive when they’re seen in motion- notice how the bird lift-off corresponds to the setting sun?

Cool, huh?!

Ok so what does this have to do with us as birders? Well there have been a lot of advances that we can take advantage of. For instance, if you’re thinking about a trip down to the coast, but want to know if there’s been any activity, check the radar! Not enough information? How about looking at the wind map? And most interestingly, the folks at Cornell Lab of Ornithology are publishing a birding forecast that incorporates Ebird data, historical data and current weather. Look for these to be updated each week. You can also go straight to the horse’s mouth and find out what’s being reported on Ebird or TexBirds (but where’s the fun in that!?).

Finally, lets remember the true impact that weather events can have on these migrants. The weather maps posted above are from 26April2013. At that time, there was a low pressure system with North winds pushing into the Gulf, causing a huge fallout at South Padre Island. More pics. While this is an incredible event and makes for easy birding, it is also a tremendous threat for these birds. The ones that made it to shore were exhausted. So much so that they were unaware/unafraid/unconcerned of people. The ones that didn’t make it to shore… well let’s hope they found a boat or an oil platform to rest on until the storm passed.

If you head down to the coast this spring, consider taking a few extra pennies to help support the local Audubon or other bird conservation organizations in their efforts to preserve land or provide food and shelter for the migrants. If you hang around Brazos County with RBAS, take some time to put some fresh water, hummer food, seeds and orange slices. Maybe even help your neighbor put some out… all it will take is ONE oriole and they’ll thank you the rest of the season!

******************************

SPECIAL UPDATE: Houston Channel Oil Spill

Message from TPWD

Wildlife specialists continue to look for animals affected by the oil spill. To date, there have been 3 birds taken to rehab and 3 found dead. If you encounter injured wildlife, please do not attempt to handle the animals. Contact 888-384-2000.

http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20140324b

Interpretive map via Houston Audubon

http://maps.harc.edu/oilspill/

What can be done?

http://blog.aba.org/2014/03/galveston-bay-oil-spill-what-we-birders-can-do.html

Go birding! And help monitor- note any oiled birds in Ebird (click show details) during data entry

ebird.org

Volunteer!

http://www.galvbay.org/

If you are heading to the coast in the next few weeks, please be on the look out for oiled birds. Contact TPWD or someone at Houston Audubon (easy to find if you are in High Island).