We had a viewer question this morning about green radar circles around Fort Bend County when, in fact, there was no rain. This kind of bloom is bugs going out for their morning feed (they stir up a lot of dust at the buffet) and/or birds going after the bugs. It’s the circle of life. We see it in the evening around the country with bats.
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Here’s a terrific blog explanation I found from Noah Lock.
Which brings me to the time of year when we see migratory birds heading south for the winter. Just last May, Key West radar caught a magnificent migration moving north, click below to see some “natural fireworks”!
A brilliant display of migratory birds were seen on our doppler weather radar overnight! 🐦 This product depicts non-meteorological echoes in yellows/oranges - showing an exodus of birds off the Keys near sunset, than nocturnal migration northward from Cuba overnight. @Aero_Eco pic.twitter.com/oKDeZ1tQLf
— NWS Key West (@NWSKeyWest) May 5, 2020
We’ve seen a lot of Hawks migrating and it’s that time of year. You’ll notice in this previous (2018) Houston National Weather Service post the thick, green lines indicating bird migration:
And as beautiful as hawks are, they can be a little scary. Keep your small pets away!
Keeping up with the birds
The VERY BEST way to follow the bird migration is to follow Team Birdcast on Twitter. Led by Dr. Birdcast, their mission is “Forecasting and analyzing bird migration with weather, radar, and community science data.”
Yesterday’s big temperature drop in Colorado is sure to get those migratory birds heading south and Team Birdcast put this out just the other day:
So check it all out and enjoy a different kind of ‘birding’!
Frank