Visible migration

[Isurus]

Been hearing a bit (as I've got more and more into birding) about visible migration and great hordes of stuff dropping from the sky. I'll be within striking distance of Gib Point for a week in late October which sounds ideal but what conditions should I be looking for to predict when and if a big drop of migrants will occur. It sounds as if people use advance forecasts to predict them but I'm afraid I don't really get the full idea of what makes ideal conditions (I'm assuming a following wind from the mainland helps?).

I'd appreciate advice on what to look out for.

[Farnboro John]

Been hearing a bit (as I've got more and more into birding) about visible migration and great hordes of stuff dropping from the sky. I'll be within striking distance of Gib Point for a week in late October which sounds ideal but what conditions should I be looking for to predict when and if a big drop of migrants will occur. It sounds as if people use advance forecasts to predict them but I'm afraid I don't really get the full idea of what makes ideal conditions (I'm assuming a following wind from the mainland helps?).

I'd appreciate advice on what to look out for.


Others will have different and probably more knowledgeable views but what I look out for is contrast in weather, like a fine spell with winds off the continent that runs headlong into a big bad ugly front coming up the North Sea from across Southern England and grounds birds that have set off in the good weather.

The other thing that can cause a burst of migrants is sudden clearing after a couple of days of rain and gales from the west that has stopped migration dead and built up numbers of birds just waiting for the chance to leap the North Sea and get on, but that tends more to result in stuff going over rather than being downed on the coast.

Hope you have a good time anyway.

John

[Julian Bell]

I've done a fair bit of visible migration watching (http://www.naturalbornbirder.com/gullfjell/vis_mig/vis_mig.php) and still find it infruiatingly difficult to predict a good day.

However, there are a few guidelines. One is that the best weather for observing visible migration is often the worst for the birds - when they have been forced low by headwinds.

Having said that, if there has been a long period of poor weather that suddenly clears then things can really get going. Unfortunately the better the weather the higher the birds fly - especially passerines.

Then there is time of day - often the period around dawn is the most productive, although this depends on where you are and the species you are after....

[Russell Haywood]

Narrows at Spurn has got to be the best site in UK for vis-mig.
www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk