NEXRAD Migration Tracking

Greg Haworth posted this to PortlandAreaBirds and it's just too cool not to share. Check out his Picassa images of bird migration! The image to the left is from Greg's album.

[quote]
New Jersey birder David La Puma, author of the website woodcreeper.com, has been using his local NEXRAD radar access to track migration for a few years. He has a video tutorial on how he does this at the following website: http://vimeo.com/2020985?pg=embed&sec=2020985. So i gave it a go using our local radar.

Here is the image at 7PM last night:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594768261085150866
Nothing much going on except a few scattered clouds over the Cascades.

By 8PM things look a whole lot differently. (Green/blue images are coming towards the radar, yellow/orange going away).
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594768261128486018
Activity is picking up and moving north.

At midnight the birds are in full swing:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594768263198914658

At 5AM the birds are still moving but not as densely:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594768267042305778

And by 6AM they've all taken up shelter ready to forage for the day:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594768268983272130

The following two images are not of velocity but of reflectance -- the darker the blue the higher the density. Here is an image of the regional scene at midnight last night:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594772948293364850
Scattered movement throughout the region, heaviest in the I5 Corridor and Oregon coast and coast range

Here is the activity to the south of us using the Medford radar:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117379188188746532188/2011Migration#5594774893769556722

Anyway, i thought i'd share this pretty cool tool. If you're interested in generating these maps yourself take a look a the tutorial video linked to above.

greg haworth
[end quote]

2011 April 9 - Powell Butte Nature Park (Reunion)

Some 1st and 2nd year students of the School of Birding met at Powell Butte this morning for the monthly 1st year Reunion Field Trip. It was so wonderful to see the graduates again! Our timing coincided with a Ron Escano trip and there was a big crowd so we split off on our own. Highlights included Orange-crowned Warblers, Mountain Bluebirds (!) and seeing an American Kestrel chase a Sharp-Shinned Hawk out of his territory. Other highlights were the Western Meadowlarks, a bedraggled Lincoln's Sparrow, Savannah Sparrows and Hermit Thrushes.

Our total count: 33. I felt pretty smug about that until later in the afternoon when Michael and I ran into two men at Sandy River Delta who were part of Ron's trip and they saw/heard 46 species, including Osprey, Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson's Snipe, and the elusive Say's Phoebe. However, I think we did great on our own! :)

Cackling Goose. Branta hutchinsii

Turkey Vulture. Cathartes aura.

Sharp-shinned Hawk. Accipiter striatus.

Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperii. (seen after most people left)

Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo jamaicensis.

American Kestrel. Falco sparverius.

Killdeer. Charadrius vociferus.

Anna's Hummingbird. Calypte anna.

Northern Flicker. Colaptes auratus.

Steller's Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri.

Western Scrub-Jay. Aphelocoma californica.

American Crow. Corvus brachyrhynchos.

Violet-green Swallow. Tachycineta thalassina.

Black-capped Chickadee. Poecile atricapillus.

Bushtit. Psaltriparus minimus.

Bewick's Wren. Thryomanes bewickii.

Golden-crowned Kinglet. Regulus satrapa.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Regulus calendula.

Mountain Bluebird. Sialia currucoides.

Hermit Thrush. Catharus guttatus.

American Robin. Turdus migratorius.

European Starling. Sturnus vulgaris.

Orange-crowned Warbler. Oreothlypis celata.

Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dendroica coronata.

Common Yellowthroat. Geothlypis trichas.

Spotted Towhee. Pipilo maculatus.

Savannah Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis.

Fox Sparrow. Passerella iliaca.

Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia.

Lincoln's Sparrow. Melospiza lincolnii.

Golden-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia atricapilla.

Dark-eyed Junco. Junco hyemalis.

Western Meadowlark. Sturnella neglecta.

2011 April 2 - Cooper Mountain

While we didn't see a lot of species, we did count 39 and had an abundance of Hutton's Vireos and Brown Creepers to enjoy, and got to see a displaying Cooper's Hawk and a Townsend's Chipmunk.

Cackling Goose. Branta hutchinsii

Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter cooperii.

Red-tailed Hawk. Buteo jamaicensis.

Mourning Dove. Zenaida macroura.

Anna's Hummingbird. Calypte anna.

Rufous Hummingbird. Selasphorus rufus.

Red-breasted Sapsucker. Sphyrapicus ruber.

Downy Woodpecker. Picoides pubescens.

Northern Flicker. Colaptes auratus.

Pileated Woodpecker. Dryocopus pileatus.

Hutton's Vireo. Vireo huttoni.

Steller's Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri.

Western Scrub-Jay. Aphelocoma californica.

American Crow. Corvus brachyrhynchos.

Tree Swallow. Tachycineta bicolor.

Violet-green Swallow. Tachycineta thalassina.

Black-capped Chickadee. Poecile atricapillus.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Poecile rufescens.

White-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis.

Brown Creeper. Certhia americana.

Bewick's Wren. Thryomanes bewickii.

Pacific Wren. Troglodytes pacificus.

Golden-crowned Kinglet. Regulus satrapa.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Regulus calendula.

Western Bluebird. Sialia mexicana.

Hermit Thrush. Catharus guttatus.

American Robin. Turdus migratorius.

Varied Thrush. Ixoreus naevius.

European Starling. Sturnus vulgaris.

Yellow-rumped Warbler. Dendroica coronata.

Spotted Towhee. Pipilo maculatus.

Savannah Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis.

Song Sparrow. Melospiza melodia.

White-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia leucophrys.

Golden-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia atricapilla.

Dark-eyed Junco. Junco hyemalis.

Red-winged Blackbird. Agelaius phoeniceus.

Purple Finch. Carpodacus purpureus.

Pine Siskin. Spinus pinus.

Marbled Murrelet video

A quick but informative video on the endangered Marbled Murrelet.

CafeGive

Do you do any online shopping? If you shop via the CafeGive website, the Audubon Society of Portland earns a portion! The list of stores is impressive! These are just a few of them. I'm changing my portal for all of my online shopping. Sweet!

REI
Best Buy
Newegg
Dell Small Business & Home
Sephora
iTunes
Eddie Bauer
Borders
Fossil
Gap
Keen
Columbia
Macy's
Overstock
Powell's
Office Depot
Home Depot
Travelocity
Priceline
Nordstrom
The Walking Company