Rarity Alert - April 27

Tomorrow looks like it will be awesome for migration in Bruce (and most of Ontario), so I thought I would do a quick post.

 There are some very strong southwest winds coming all the way from the gulf coast and Texas. The wind will start to pick up later today and will continue until Tuesday night, when it starts dying down and shifting west. 

As far as rain goes, it's looking pretty good! It's always hard to know exactly what will happen with rain in advance, especially in Bruce where Lake Huron really effects it. But looking at it now I see a massive, rain-free channel for birds all the way from the Texas coast. This means a huge number of migrating songbirds will take advantage of these tailwinds to move north.

So what's this mean from a rarity standpoint? 

Well it's still April, which means migration is just starting to ramp up here. I think this weather is interesting, but don't expect one of those late May days where there are songbirds everywhere. With that being said, I could definitely see some cool birds showing up because of this... I'm thinking early season overshoots like Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager or American Avocet. For more southern rarities, we could get lucky with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow or Painted Bunting. Maybe a Franklin's Gull? You just never know with rarities!

I feel like the Tobermory area could be good, but maybe a day or more after this passes. I think birds that go to feeders like Lark Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Dickcissel etc often come up on these winds, but take a few days to find the feeders/get noticed. A few days of cold weather after a warm front also really helps drive birds to feeders. 

As far as advice for where to go, I would recommend the lakeshore. Birds are almost always more concentrated by the lake, but especially with winds like these. Stokes Bay, Pike Bay, Kincardine Lagoons, Hope Bay, Cabot Head... you get the idea! Is Lake Huron or Georgian Bay better? Really depends on the day.. and my personal preference is Huron, but they are usually both quite good. Also relating to my previous post on shorebirds, get out after rain passes and check your local shorebird spots. 

No matter what happens with rare birds, it will be a fun few days with (hopefully) some neotropical migrants and a lot of FOY birds. 

Anyway just wanted to get that out there! Migration season is here!