The short answer is that the passerine migration you might be thinking of--the bulk of warblers, vireos, thrushes, and flycatchers--has just begun. Most of these arrive or pass through from late April to late May, with the peak of warblers, the classic highlight most people anticipate, usually occurring from mid-May to the first few days of June.
What is happening currently is that over the past few days and into this coming week we have had mild weather under high pressure. This means most birds are flying right over us or right onto breeding territories. To "see" migration apart from blips on radar or chips overhead, it usually takes some weather to block birds or force them down. The weather is too darn nice right now.
The long answer to your question is that migration has been going on since late February, with different groups of birds taking the lead over the course of spring. Blackbirds and Turkey Vultures, for example are early returnees. The waterfowl season runs from late March to early May and is winding down now (sea-ducks like scoters and eiders are among the later migrants and then often make the jump right over us so we never see it happening). Diurnal hawks have been moving since mid-March, with peaks for different species coming and going; Broad-wings are hitting their stride right now, for example. A few shorebirds arrive early, Killdeer and woodcock, then snipe, for example; a few more species are traditional in mid to late April; most shorebirds, the tundra nesting species, will move through in the latter half of May. Terns will be arriving early to mid May. That's just a few examples and a partial sketch. It's happening and we're heading into the best time.
The eBird project provides an easy way to track migration. One can even generate bar graphs to get a sense of migration timing for species. Go here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?cmd=changeLocation
Choose Maine in the states (or select a few neighboring states; or select Canada, then New Brunswick and/or Nova Scotia), click "entire region" and continue. Alternatively, one can look at bird conservation regions. We are in #14 Atlantic Northern Forest. There are ways to look at these data on maps and by month too. Exploring the site is encouraged!
One of the coolest things linked now on eBird is Birdcast. This is a week by week forecast of migration and retrospective of what did happen. Go here:
http://birdcast.info
There is an animated graph showing forecast weather AND bird migration. Over the past few weeks, this map has been amazingly useful to anticipate migration and fallouts (where northbound birds hit fronts). Check it out!
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
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