Since the sky is clear I thought I would post a daytime picture so you can see the difference between it and the normal migration pattern. ?The day picture for most radar locations won't show birds because the don't launch in mass until after sunset but here on the coast there are enough birds in the air to show up. ?

This afternoon at nearly high tide there is a cloud of birds mostly milling around of shore represented by lightly populated green at the bottom of the highlighted area. ?Then some concentrated red up north in the Forks area. ? The birds that are moving are heading north instead of south. ?The time of high tide moves from south to north. ?High tide comes to Tokeland first and progresses up the coast for instance. ?I think this pattern indicates birds that are drifting along the shore feeding as the tide moves. ?The birds milling around over the water may include fishers like Terns and Shearwaters as well and there may be birds out there that took the water route jumping across the bay from the Westport Side. ?Anyway, I think it helps to illustrate what a true migration pattern looks like when you see it. ?

On the previous post. ?The one with last nights picture. ?I noticed too late that I had drawn the arrows for the birds moving east along the Strait over the mountains instead of the coast and the water from Neah Bay along to Port Townsend and on to Seattle. ?Some birds probably do cross the mountains but it's an easier flight to go around and the mountains block the radar so we don't see the ones that do. ?

1:30 PM ?Daytime?http://s607.photobucket.com/albums/tt158/rayleeholden/?action=view&current=CoastMigration2-8-17-12.jpg

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Ray Holden
Olympia, WA

Life is for the birds.