Next wave 5/21 - 5/22

Wednesday, May 19: The hard-working guides from Tropical Birding were back out on the boardwalk at Magee Marsh today, finding a decent diversity of birds and more pleasant weather than the last couple of days. Golden-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Black-billed Cuckoo were among their highlights. Jim Witter and Shane Roberts also did a census of Magee for the Division of Wildlife today, coming up with 21 warbler species including Orange-crowned, Mourning, and Canada, as well as Philadelphia Vireo and a good variety of flycatchers and thrushes. So there are certainly birds around for those who are willing to search, despite the northerly winds that have prevailed recently.

Tonight a high-pressure system will pass over the area and the wind will shift around during the night. A few new migrants will probably come in (and some of the current crop probably will leave) but I don't expect a big arrival of birds on Thursday, May 20. Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22, are looking more promising. The weather forecasts are somewhat contradictory so I can't guess which of those two days will be best, but it appears the winds will be mostly southerly on Thursday and Friday nights and there should be at least moderate numbers of birds showing up on Friday and Saturday mornings. This may be the best weekend to find Connecticut Warbler in the migrant traps near Lake Erie. Numbers of the species could be even higher later in the month, but the adult males tend to be the first migrants to appear, and they are more likely to be singing (giving us a fighting chance to find these elusive skulkers).