Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[David Martin]

  Here in the Albany, NY area I had the highest number of calls for a 
single night on 10 Sep in my four years of recording, but my  numbers 
(460)  are lower than other reports.  That may be because my location is 
in the Hudson River valley at a relatively low elevation (100m), and 
most birds were flying high.  Also, the thrush detector I've been using 
doesn't seem very efficient -- it's something I need to work on.

At 10PM, the presumed bird reflectance on the Albany radar image 
extended out >100km.  The elevation of the Albany radar antenna  is  
589m (1934 ft).  So, at 100km the radar was detecting birds between 1400 
and 3100m above sea level (4500 -- 10,200 ft).

David Martin

On 9/16/2010 9:38 AM, Jeff Wells wrote:
>
> We have one station running up here in Maine but interestingly 
> although it picked up good numbers (600+ calls) on the night of the 
> 10^th , it picked up more calls on the 7^th (752) and also 600+ calls 
> on the 2^nd .
>
> Jeff Wells
>
> *From:* bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu 
> [mailto:bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu] *On Behalf Of *Mike 
> Powers
> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:06 PM
> *To:* Benjamin Van Doren
> *Cc:* David La Puma; Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration
>
> Hi all,
>
> Ditto (almost) to what Benjamin wrote: we (Andrew Farnsworth, Anne 
> Klingensmith, and I) have several microphones out in the Ithaca area 
> hope to analyze the night of the 10th shortly.  We're looking forward 
> to comparisons with the various recording stations around the northeast!
>
> Earlier this evening it was quite active in the southern tier of NY, 
> with a good flight of thrushes:  mostly Veery followed by Swainson's 
> Thrush with a couple of Gray-cheeked as well.
>
> Cheers,
> Mike
>
> --
> Mike Powers
> Horseheads, NY
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Benjamin Van Doren 
> mailto:nimajn...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Bill & David -
>
> Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY 
> metro area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to 
> see what they hold (though everything may not be extracted and 
> classified for few months). I was listening for about an hour on the 
> night of the 10th and heard many more flight calls than I've ever 
> heard from my house, so the flight should be interesting to quantify 
> (and interesting to compare to the Cape May mics).
>
> Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!
>
> Benjamin Van Doren
>
> White Plains, NY
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma  > wrote:
>
> Awesome, Bill.
>
> Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same 
> region; the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me 
> tomorrow in the early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly 
> chilled.
>
> Cheers- and good listening!
>
> David
>
> ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so 
> we should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the 
> recordings.
>
>
> 
>
> David A. La Puma
> Postdoctoral Associate
> New Jersey Audubon Society
> 600 Route 47 North
> Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
> Office: 609.861.1608 x33
> Fax:609.861.1651
>
> Websites:
> http://www.woodcreeper.com
> http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com
>
> Photos:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
> mailto:wrev...@clarityconnect.com>> wrote:
>
> Nfcers,
>
> I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future 
> nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the 
> first two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of 
> Sep 10-11, 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv 
> membership at a pub of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, 
> for those who have an ear to hear and an eye to see in this manner, 
> take note of future fall migrations over northeastern US in case of 
> cashing in on my offer. I wager, given the rarity of such large 
> nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years, and the crushing inertia of 
> human civilisation, that a flight the density and breadth of Sep 10-11 
> 2010 will not happen again in our lives across interior northeastern 
> USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.
>
> As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations 
> to surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal 
> attention was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my 
> pending documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this 
> nocturnal migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and 
> amidst other human tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we 
> prevail in the bigger picture, imprinting earth with our natural 
> history activities, respectfully & nonetheless.
>
> The pulse of migration over central New York 

RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Jeff Wells]

We have one station running up here in Maine but interestingly although
it picked up good numbers (600+ calls) on the night of the 10th, it
picked up more calls on the 7th (752) and also 600+ calls on the 2nd.

 

Jeff Wells

 

From: bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6309122-9874...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mike
Powers
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:06 PM
To: Benjamin Van Doren
Cc: David La Puma; Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Hi all,

Ditto (almost) to what Benjamin wrote: we (Andrew Farnsworth, Anne
Klingensmith, and I) have several microphones out in the Ithaca area
hope to analyze the night of the 10th shortly.  We're looking forward to
comparisons with the various recording stations around the northeast!

Earlier this evening it was quite active in the southern tier of NY,
with a good flight of thrushes:  mostly Veery followed by Swainson's
Thrush with a couple of Gray-cheeked as well.

Cheers,
Mike

--
Mike Powers
Horseheads, NY



On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:21 PM, Benjamin Van Doren
 wrote:

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what
they hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few
months). I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and
heard many more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the
flight should be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to
the Cape May mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

 

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same
region; the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow
in the early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the
recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper









On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the
first two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep
10-11, 2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv
membership at a pub of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So,
for those who have an ear to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take
note of future fall migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing
in on my offer. I wager, given the rarity of such large nocturnal
migrations in the past 20 years, and the crushing inertia of human
civilisation, that a flight the density and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010
will not happen again in our lives across interior northeastern USA.  If
so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal
attention was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my
pending documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this
nocturnal migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and
amidst other human tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we
prevail in the bigger picture, imprinting earth with our natural history
activities, respectfully & nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep
10-11 rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations
were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two
nights later than I thought, and Catharus fuscescens y Wilsonia pusilla
flight calling turned out to be normal for the time of year, instead of
the higher numbers and proportions I had guessed. But the number of
migrants aloft burst forth with full remnant ebullience. That density
was nature-born and the species composition a delightfully telling
ancient echo. The flight is now just a memory for a few of us, but
indicative records remain:

Radar reflectivity and velocity images from the night are available for
download for another 24 hours or so at:
http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/radar/.  Specifically, the NEXRAD
records from Albany, Watertown, Binghamton, and Buffalo, NY along with
State College, PA show sign of sustained 28+ dBZ biological reflectivity
crossing the breadth of interior NY (Albany to Buffalo) 

RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

[Richard Guthrie]

Report on eBird?

 

I say sure.

 

It's all valid  very useful and informative data!

 

Perhaps a notation about the gathering technique ie "nocturnal flight call
monitoring" might be added .

 

Rich Guthrie

New Baltimore

New York

gael...@capital.net

 

 

 

 

 

  _  

From: bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6309185-10071...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Chris
Tessaglia-Hymes
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:17 PM
To: 'Benjamin Van Doren'; 'David La Puma'
Cc: 'Bill Evans'; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: RE: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

On the night of the 14th annual Montezuma Muckrace (10th-11th), our team
(The Gallinagos - consisting of Jeff Gerbracht, Kevin McGowan, Gerard
Phillips, and me) recorded the bulk of the night migration from a location
just Southwest of the Village of Savannah, New York, from about 10:45pm
until a little after sunrise. The recording was made using a Zoom H4n
Recorder and a single Sennheiser MKH 20 omnidirectional microphone. Gerard
and I skimmed the audio files already, but I intend to do a much more
in-depth tally when I have more time. We can add these data to the map for
comparison purposes.what an amazing night migration, indeed! When I have
final numbers, I'll post them to this List.

 

Question: should we be reporting these kinds of numbers into eBird?

 

Thanks and good birding!

 

Sincerely,
Chris T-H

 

--

Chris Tessaglia-Hymes

Listowner, NFC-L

Ithaca, New York

c...@cornell.edu

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME

http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES

 

 

From: bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-6308753-9327...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Benjamin Van
Doren
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 9:21 PM
To: David La Puma
Cc: Bill Evans; NFC-L@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: [nfc-l] reflections on a monumental nocturnal migration

 

Bill & David -

 

Andrew Farnsworth and I have 6 ARUs deployed within the greater NY metro
area, so we too have recordings for that night. Can't wait to see what they
hold (though everything may not be extracted and classified for few months).
I was listening for about an hour on the night of the 10th and heard many
more flight calls than I've ever heard from my house, so the flight should
be interesting to quantify (and interesting to compare to the Cape May
mics).

 

Good listening, watching, and predicting, everyone!

 

Benjamin Van Doren

White Plains, NY

On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 8:17 PM, David La Puma 
wrote:

Awesome, Bill. 

Might I add that tonight should be an excellent flight for the same region;
the largest since the Sept 10-11 flight. If you find me tomorrow in the
early AM, I'll have a Rogue Northwestern Ale freshly chilled.

Cheers- and good listening!

David

ps. we have data from several mics around Cape May for that night- so we
should talk about comparing our analysis once we bring in the recordings.




David A. La Puma
Postdoctoral Associate
New Jersey Audubon Society
600 Route 47 North
Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Office: 609.861.1608 x33
Fax:609.861.1651

Websites: 
http://www.woodcreeper.com
http://badbirdz2.wordpress.com

Photos: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodcreeper








On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Bill Evans 
wrote:

Nfcers,

I begin by stating simply that if anyone ever substantiates a future
nocturnal vertebrate migration over interior northeastern US (in the first
two weeks of September) bigger than what occurred the night of Sep 10-11,
2010.I will buy fine ale for the whole nfc listserv membership at a pub
of consensual choice somewhere on the planet. So, for those who have an ear
to hear and an eye to see in this manner, take note of future fall
migrations over northeastern US in case of cashing in on my offer. I wager,
given the rarity of such large nocturnal migrations in the past 20 years,
and the crushing inertia of human civilisation, that a flight the density
and breadth of Sep 10-11 2010 will not happen again in our lives across
interior northeastern USA.  If so, I will be singing "kumbaya" in reverance.

As I recall, it was about a week in advance that I began preparations to
surf the then subtley-evident behemoth wave. Allocation of spousal attention
was reduced; the kids welfare rationalized circularly by my pending
documentary actions. We walk a thin line of sanity in this nocturnal
migration preoccupation, especially so during wartime and amidst other human
tragedies on our nerve within a keystroke. But we prevail in the bigger
picture, imprinting earth with our natural history activities, respectfully
& nonetheless.

The pulse of migration over central New York State on the night of Sep 10-11
rocked the relative historic framework. My initial calculations were off
(http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html#1283970775), but you
only lose in such events when you miss them. The flight happened two nights
later than I thought, and