As we enter the beginning of a new bird migration season, birders can get a suite of migration information by monitoring BirdCast, a web service that provides timely information after the post-nesting dispersal for our state, and across the lower 48 States on a day-by-day basis.

Perhaps it’s where I live but I no longer see any robins in my area nor do I hear them during early morning and late evening hours as they appear to be saying good morning and good night, as my mother used to say when I was a young kid.

Provided on the site are Live Bird Migration Radar Maps that allow you to view live radar-based migration maps of the Lower 48 States.

These animated maps, according to the Birding Wire, run on a time cycle that you can follow from 6 p.m. and throughout the next 24 hours with references to sunset and sunrise too. You can also refer to the archived maps that can be referenced from previous nights, weeks and even years.

The Migration Dashboard allows you to type your county or state into the white box at the top of the webpage to reveal local bird migration highlights above your local county at “Migration Dashboard – BirdCast. The information given provides an estimate of the number of birds that migrated; their elevation (altitude), speed, and direction the birds were migrating, and some birds that migrate during the period. You can also explore bird migration in other counties and states of interest across the United States by typing the location into the Dashboard, and information recorded for each night as it’s archived.

A Bird Migration Forecast Map shows what you might expect during the next 3 nights of migration in your area, and it’s presented in the form of a radar-based map.

Then there’s Local Bird Migration Alerts that can be monitored for your local migration forecasts for the next 3 nights for your city, or a city near you by viewing “Local Bird Migration Alerts-BirdCast.” Each night is given in Low, Medium, or High migration forecast. Plus, you can subscribe to receive free email alerts for your area.

Birders throughout the country appreciate the information provided by BirdCast during fall and spring migration periods each year. And it has become an important “tool” to expand our understanding of birds and bird migration as well as finding out what to expect in coming days throughout the fall season.

SALTWATER FISHING REPORT

According to our reporters from On the Water Magazine, they’re saying that white bonito and Spanish mackerel are in the ocean reefs and are also giving up keeper fluke, sea bass and triggerfish while sheepshead and tog are biting around bay bridges. Mahi are also in close on the lobster pots, and tuna fishing is solid with bluefin in close while yellowfin are about 70 miles offshore.