Black-throated Gray Warbler at the Bill Williams NWR on 4/12/2012
I am trying something new here at Words about Birds and that is attempting to monitor bird migration via radar on the lower Colorado River and surrounding areas. I am just starting to learn how to read and analyze the radar, so cut me some slack if I make a wrong analysis. I am open to constructive criticism, though. I will be using the radar out of Yuma, Arizona and analyzing the velocity and reflectivity each morning to monitor migration.
Here are the animations from last night.
Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.
It appears as though migration was moderate throughout the southern portion of the river and migration seemed to be strongest on the California side of the river. Birds could have been heading from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Coast and north from there. The inland counties of California were most likely to get a higher number of migrants due to the activity on the radar around dawn.
Please post in the comments any feedback that you have for my migration analyses and what you are seeing in your daily outings. Thanks!
I would like to thank Drew Weber of Nemesis Bird for setting me up with these animations. He is doing a fantastic job monitoring migration for parts of the mid-Atlantic.