Published: 03/25/2022

Dear Journey North Readers,

While there hasn’t been a lot of activity across the country this week, migration is starting to pick up. Strong southerly winds have helped bring a handful of migrants into the southern parts of the U.S. In Louisiana, the first Louisiana Waterthrushes, Black-and-white Warblers, and Yellow-throated Vireos were seen, along with an early Hooded Warbler. There were a couple of reports of Blue-headed Vireos in Georgia, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were seen in Alabama. Migration is starting to pick up a bit in the Western U.S. as well, with the first Lucy’s Warblers and Virginia’s Warblers being seen in Arizona.

So what does migration look like for the coming week? Looking at the weather map, there is a strong storm system moving across the country, bringing heavy rains and poor flying weather. Behind the storm system are strong north winds, which means migrants will face headwinds after the storms pass. All this means migrants will be forced to land by the storms, and will stay grounded for a couple of days by the headwinds. By the weekend, the winds will have shifted to the south, allowing migrants to continue moving north.

Migration will become more active very soon, so get ready to see lots of birds in the coming weeks! Take care.

David Aborn