Massive bird migration over Pittsburgh was spectacular — if you had binoculars - TribLIVE

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Waves of tens of thousands of birds passed through the region Monday night, as they do each fall on big migration days, delivering a variety of species that are heading south after summering in the northern United States and Canada.

But the trees weren’t dripping with birds as they would for a “fall-out,” when a weather pattern or the prospect of a large water crossing backs up large flocks of migratory birds — much to the glee of birdwatchers.

A forecast for a “massive migration” night in the Pittsburgh region by BirdCast created some confusion. Some residents were under the impression that if they looked to the skies at 7 p.m., large flocks of birds would be visible.

“Unfortunately, we aren’t able to witness it happen,” said Brian Shema, operations manager for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

First, birds usually migrate at night. Second, the ones that flew over were at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, he said.

The few who got to experience the phenomenon were birdwatchers with binoculars out in the early morning and the bird banders at the Powdermill Nature Reserve of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Cook Township, Westmoreland County.

At Powdermill, 294 birds and 45 species were recorded and banded for the highest single-day count this year, said Annie Lindsay, bird banding program manager at Powdermill’s environmental research station.

“It was excellent day,” she said, “exciting, fulfilling and satisfying.”

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park, Kate St. John, author of the blog “Outside My Window,” was seeing birds galore, hundreds of them and 44 species.

“It was spectacular,” she said.

A small group of birdwatchers at Beechwood Farms in Fox Chapel saw 13 species of warblers, plus many other birds, and had a good day, Shema said. “It’s a very average mid-September statistic in general. Absolutely last night was a big migration night; that is not atypical.”

Mike Fialkovich of Penn Hills, the bird report editor of the Three Rivers Birding Club, received reports of people seeing a wide variety of birds. “If the radar looks good for birds to move through, they will,” he said. “However, if the weather is good, many of the birds will keep moving.”

“A good or great migration day is not abnormal,” said Lindsay. “Tuesday gave us the right conditions for these birds, which migrated all night, and at day break, they stop flying and start to refuel to replenish their fat to make the rest of their trip.”

If regular people want to experience bird migrations, there are a couple of options, Shema said.

Aim binoculars or a spotting scope at the moon, full-frame, and “you will see these fast moving streaks,” Shema said.

Anyone interested can also visit a local park, ideally at 7 a.m. and definitely before 10 a.m to look for birds, or better yet, other birdwatchers to help, he said.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, mthomas@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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