In my experience, visible spring migration of Barn Swallows along the central ocean coast of Long Island (Jones Inlet to Shinnecock Inlet) is almost invariably from east to west (the only exceptions seem to involve rare occasions when very small numbers of birds are observed bucking easterly headwinds during poor weather). This may seem odd, especially for an allegedly diurnal migrant, but the general pattern holds true for visible mass movements (whether construed as genuine migration or reorientation) of almost all landbird species along this coast during spring. Spring migration for Barns Swallows is also surprisingly late here, peaking in mid May and continuing through the end of the month. Here are a few selected records to illustrate these points:
23 Apr 07 Fire Island 35 e to w 2 May 10 Moriches-Shinnecock Inlets 176 e to w 10 May 09 Shinnecock Inlet 197 e to w 12 May 05 Fire Island 1,000 e to w 15 May 10 Fire Island 400 e to w 31 May 09 Fire Island 22 e to w Bull (1964) lists a high spring count of of 250 at Long Beach on 30 May 1917 but doesn't state the direction of movement. Shai Mitra ________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Steve Walter [[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 9:47 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [nysbirds-l] Hooded W. at Oakland Lake and other stuff > Of interest was a modest westward movement of Barn Swallows, perhaps a cold > triggered reverse migration (as has been observed before). ________________________________ Washington Monthly<http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2012/features/americas_bestbangforthebuck_co039461.php> magazine ranks the College of Staten Island as one of "America's Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges" -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
