The Changing Seasons: Warm Winds

A balmy fallIt's rare in a season to hear such unanimity from across the temperate reporting regions: from virtually all quarters comes word that warm weather ruled most of the continent north of Mexico almost through November's end, and in many regions, a marked lack of typical cold fronts meant few fallouts or concentrations of migrants over much of the season.Even from off-continent reporting areas, such as Bermuda, the paucity of cold fronts was noted as having substantially reduced the number and diversity of migrants.Despite the late arrivals and lower numbers of migrants in many regions, there was also near-consensus that the season was a very good one for vagrants, virtually everywhere.From Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies and Great Plains and Prairie Provinces, through eastern Canada and the northeasterstates--and south through Appalachia, the Southern Great Plains, the Southern Atlantic and Gulf Coasts--the fall season was again unusually warm, with below-average precipitation over much of the continent.The combination of high temperatures and little rain led to near-drought conditions over much of the eastern two-thirds of North America, with notable exceptions.In Ontario, rains in late August and September alleviated dry conditions somewhat; light rains fell then from New York south to Virginia but did little to change bone-dry impoundments: Bombay Hook and Chincoteague refuges had very little habitat for shorebirds, while Conejohela Flats in eastern Pennsylvania produced 27 species.In the drying Upper St. Lawrence River area, mudflats were exposed; but, as in the eastern Great Lakes, the anticipated flocks of shorebirds never materialized.Editors Denault, Bannon, Aubry, and David speculate that the birds might have simply been less concentrated on migration this year.Similar conditions in New England produced excellent shorebirding on Lake Champlain, while Robert Leberman reports that "low water levels and extensive mudflats at many lakes and reservoirs [... ] translated into more than the usual number of interesting shorebird sightings" in Appalachia.Florida's drought situation continued, despite showers from tropical systems.Wisconsin reported above-average rainfall, but only from August, while to the south, the eastern prairies of the Midwest had much rain from August through mid-October.In Missouri, as elsewhere in the western parts of the Middlewestern Prairie Region, habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl dried up, but eastern Indiana had the opposite problem, with the best spots flooded out.A "deluge" hit western Tennessee in late November, but otherwise the Bob and Lucy Duncan note"unremarkable" weather in the Central Southern Region.Texas, in contrast to areas to the east, witnessed heavy rains fuelled by Pacific fronts' clashes with Gulf moisture, at least in the eastern part of the state; West Texas suffered under drought.Despite these localized rains, the drought meant poor food crops over much of the East and Texas, and editors from near and far commented that the low mast production appeared to be linked to low numbers of late-season birds in particular.All talk of global warming aside, even northern Alaska was relatively warm and mild, especially from August until early October, which is news."Although the norm tends to be systematic cooling and snow accumulations following a mid-to late October freeze-up, this year's freeze fell hard and fast after very mild conditions dominated the Region;' writes Thede Tobish.In British Columbia, Donald Cecile documents an unusually mild and "late, late, late" fall, with the transition to cold weather and snow coming abruptly in late November, as was true almost everywhere in the Lower 48 states.New York had its "warmest November since the 1931 Dustbowl and the first snow-free November in 122 years in Buffalo;' according to editors Paxton, Burgiel, and Cutler.Even all the way to the north of Lake Superior, Peder Svingen reports that "November weather Part of a large influx of the species from the Midwest through western New York and Pennsylvania, these Wood Storks made Clyde, New York their fishing ground in late August and September.Photo#raph byAn#us Wilson.seemed like September!"--and the same news comes from Rudolf Koes and Peter Taylor in the Prairie Provinces, Ron Martin in the Northern Great Plains, Brandon Percival and Van Truan in the Mountain West, and David Trochlell, who adds that August was Idaho's warmest and Montana's fourth warmest.Ken Brock notes that November was Kansas City's fourth warmest; Chicago's daytime high temperatures in November averaged seven degrees Fahrenheit above normal.New Mexico and Arizona also found their falls very mild, with "winter's" arrival also largely post-Thanksgiving Day.Out West, at least south of the Canadian border, the weather situation resisted neat characterization, as is often the case."Few observers were willing to generalize about the weather or to speculate about its possible relation to avian distribution and abundance this fallt' writes Ted Floyd in the Great Basin.Editors Mlodinow, Tweit, and Contreras describe a warm and very dry early season in Oregon and eastern Washington, with more typical wet weather arriving in November, in line with the rest of the continent, but average weather in western Washington.The lack of either twin, El Nifio nor La Nifia, off California presumably means that the weather was more or less "normal" there as well, while in Hawai'i, Bob Pyle and Peter Donaldson send word that the long drought was finally broken by heavy rains on several islands, much-needed relief.Fronts Regional editors in the East provided good detail on the cold fronts that crossed their paths; given the mild weather and scarcity of cold fronts, birds in the eastern and central parts of the continent tended to linger north later than usual but also to concentrate themselves in migratory passages on what northerly winds were available.There were too many reports of record-late departures to cite here, but in some areas, such as the Central Southern Region, the late arrival of a respectable cold front produced a large number of record-early arrival dates.In general, those birders north of the Mason-Dixon line's latitude saw birds moving roughly on schedule, while those from the Carolinas, southern Appalachia, and the Southern Great Plains southward twiddled their thumbs longer than normal while waiting on the short-distance migrants in particular.In the VOLUME 56 (2OO2), NUMBER 1 15 The Changing Seasons: Warm Winds A balmy fall It's rare in a season to hear such unanimity from across the temperate reporting regions: from virtually all quarters comes word that warm weather ruled most of the continent north of Mexico almost through November's end, and in many regions, a marked lack of typical cold fronts meant few fallouts or concentrations of migrants over much of the season.Even from off-continent reporting areas, such as Bermuda, the paucity of cold fronts was noted as having substantially reduced the number and diversity of migrants.Despite the late arrivals and lower numbers of migrants in many regions, there was also near-consensus that the season was a very good one for vagrants, virtually everywhere.From Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to the Rockies and Great Plains and Prairie Provinces, through eastern Canada and the northeasterstates--and south through Appalachia, the Southern Great Plains, the Southern Atlantic and Gulf Coasts--the fall season was again unusually warm, with below-average precipitation over much of the continent.The combination of high temperatures and little rain led to near-drought conditions over much of the eastern two-thirds of North America, with notable exceptions.In Ontario, rains in late August and September alleviated dry conditions somewhat; light rains fell then from New York south to Virginia but did little to change bone-dry impoundments: Bombay Hook and Chincoteague refuges had very little habitat for shorebirds, while Conejohela Flats in eastern Pennsylvania produced 27 species.In the drying Upper St. Lawrence River area, mudflats were exposed; but, as in the eastern Great Lakes, the anticipated flocks of shorebirds never materialized.Editors Denault, Bannon, Aubry, and David speculate that the birds might have simply been less concentrated on migration this year.Similar conditions in New England produced excellent shorebirding on Lake Champlain, while Robert Leberman reports that "low water levels and extensive mudflats at many lakes and reservoirs [... ] translated into more than the usual number of interesting shorebird sightings" in Appalachia.Florida's drought situation continued, despite showers from tropical systems.Wisconsin reported above-average rainfall, but only from August, while to the south, the eastern prairies of the Midwest had much rain from August through mid-October.In Missouri, as elsewhere in the western parts of the Middlewestern Prairie Region, habitat for shorebirds and waterfowl dried up, but eastern Indiana had the opposite problem, with the best spots flooded out.A "deluge" hit western Tennessee in late November, but otherwise the Bob and Lucy Duncan note"unremarkable" weather in the Central Southern Region.Texas, in contrast to areas to the east, witnessed heavy rains fuelled by Pacific fronts' clashes with Gulf moisture, at least in the eastern part of the state; West Texas suffered under drought.Despite these localized rains, the drought meant poor food crops over much of the East and Texas, and editors from near and far commented that the low mast production appeared to be linked to low numbers of late-season birds in particular.All talk of global warming aside, even northern Alaska was relatively warm and mild, especially from August until early October, which is news."Although the norm tends to be systematic cooling and snow accumulations following a mid-to late October freeze-up, this year's freeze

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