Meteorology and birds
As some of you may already know, I am not only into the weather but also into birds. At this time of the year, birds depend on the weather for their southerly migration. By viewing weather radar during the night time hours, you can see a pattern on the radar image that depicts birds migrating.
Monday evening brought clear skies and a full “harvest moon”. Light northwest winds were added to the mix. This is prime time for bird migration.
Reports were being received on the list serve that a heavy migration was in progress, with some responses indicating that birds could be seen traveling across the face of the moon and calls heard from the dark skies.
The radar image to the left (click for a larger view) does not show rainfall, but birds on their southbound migration. The NWS places the radar in “clear air mode” when there is no threatening weather. During fall season, just after a cold front passes through, watch the radar at night and see if you can pick out the pattern of birds migrating. Our Weather Radar has a loop setting with allows you to play a movie of radar images from the past few hours.
More information on birding by radar can be found at Woodcreeper.com.
Speaking of the harvest moon, here is a photograph I took Monday night of this beautiful sight. Simply click the thumbnail for a larger view.
Fair skies to all!
I am an amatuer meteorologist from Bath, Maine, which is along the Mid Coast. I love every aspect of weather and show it by providing a free to the public LIVE weather site called 
