Radar And Roosts

[Thurman Seber~TN]

I watched both the NWS radar and The Underground NextRad radar this morning. It was an excellent morning and the Dale Hollow Roost is rapidly growing from the looks of radar.

One thing was of particular interest. Because the circle was so well defined, I could follow the spread of the martins much further than usual. They could clearly be seen spreading all the way over the place on the map where I live.

This tells me two things:

First; no doubt, this is where my birds go when they leave my colony.
Second; it is very likely that a number of my birds roost there at night now, but visit back at my colony during the daytime. At least, it is certain that some of the roost are dispersing this far during the daytime. I could plainly see that on the radar map.

www.seberministries.com

[LarryL-MN]

I have had similar experiences. I live approximately 50 miles (as the crow flies) from a large roost. Last year, on certain days, I could estimate the time Martins should arrive at my house based on the rate the radar ring was enlarging. Many times I would hear Martins overhead and on several occasions had 2 or 3 birds land on my houses. It is possible it was a coincidence but happened after all on my birds had left for the season. It sure appears the Martins visit large areas prior to making that next step south.

[CraigMo.]

Dumb question here. How do I find a roosts on these so called weather sites. I live in zip code area 64060 and would like to know the procedures (steps) to look up a roost in my area. I went to underground nextrad and couldn't find how to look at a roost. Thanks for any help

Thank Craig

[Charles B]

Dumb question here. How do I find a roosts on these so called weather sites. I live in zip code area 64060
Thank Craig

Try this URL: http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/? ... 83&zoom=12

You may need to zoom in or out, and you will need to set how many frames you want to see. I think the max is 6 frames at about five minutes apart. I paid a small fee, and that gives me a max of 20 frames for the animation.

At my location I start looking at about 5:00AM.
You can see some of the screen captures on my WEB page at
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~branch/im ... tinRoosts/
The folders refer to dates. The files are named according to date and settings of the radar.

The way I get these images is to press Alt...PrintScreen.
Then I load the free IrfanView program and press CtrlV to paste the image, and then I save it to the hard drive. If you don't have IrfanView, you can download it at www.irfanview.com. Most any other graphic program will also work; I just prefer IrfanView.

Charles

[CraigMo.]

Thanks Charles

[John Miller]

Craig

I suggest a broader perspective (grin).

This is the radar for the KC region.

http://www.wunderground.com/radar/radbl ... ty%2c%20MO

You can go back in 15 minute increments to dawn. Can go back about 4 hours, so you need to look mornings before about 10 a.m.

On the St. Louis radar, yesterday I saw distint rings along the Mississippi River, about 75 miles north and 75 miles south. On the map, these would be dime sized, but very clear and only appear for about one or two 15 min time period right after dawn, dispersing outward over about two frames.

Once you have located one, you can zoom in.

John

[Charles B]

Craig

I suggest a broader perspective (grin).

Both types are useful. I used the version John mentioned to see an overview, such as this one, which shows three different possible roosts. The Montgomery roost at the lower left shows the classic rings. The Auburn roost at the upper right does not.
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~branch/im ... _crop2.jpg
The problem I had was the limited maximum zoom and the lack of map details. For details I use the Wundermap view, which gives more detail and a greater zoom. Using the Wundermap view, I can zoom in and see detailed typography, such as this view of the Auburn roost. This one shows several martin concentrations I observed from the KMart parking lot yesterday afternoon, including one directly over the intersection of two runways at the local aitport.
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~branch/im ... rop500.jpg
With the Wundermap view you can zoom in to the maximum, which even shows the individual roosting site for the Auburn roost.
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~branch/im ... d_Crop.jpg
That image shows the bamboo thicket where the birds are roosting. Unfortunately, a few days ago someone cut down most of the bamboo, leaving only the small section at the north end of the circled view.