Date: 03/29/2002

Number: 1

First long distance migrator Barn Swallow.

May 7, Finally I saw a few BS today. About 10 around 8:15 came shooting from the southwest over the Inlet. I can't get over how sparse the Barns have been this spring. Last week I saw 3. That same day, though, literally thousands of Tree Swallows came over the Inlet going north.

I have this theory and no one will agree or disagree with me about it. The weather patterns are SO different this year. We are so hot, in the high 90's, that they are giving out warnings how to protect from heat stroke. One guy on a construction site died of heat stroke just this past Friday. It is brutal. We have not had any storms to speak of and all the weather fronts have been way north of Florida thus far this spring. So, I am thinking there just has not been the kind of pressure changes needed to suck these birds through. Had one little storm, rain for about 1 hour, that yielded up a bunch of American Redstarts, Blackpolls, Black and White Warblers, a few Cape Mays and Magnolia Warblers. They stayed for about 21/2 days and disappeared as fast as they arrived. This was early last week. hardly a chirp to be heard anywhere. Most everyone is on nests now that breed down here. a few shorebirds are still hanging around since they aren't getting the signal to get going. I guess just hormones will have to do the trick this year. Anyway, that is my theory of why we aren't seeing migration the way we normally do around here.

Ormond Beach, FL

Latitude: 29.3 Longitude: -81.2

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