Images courtesy of the National Hurricane Center, Aug 3, 2012
As
we endure yet another heat wave (five so far this year) the tropics have also
started to heat up a bit. After a flurry
of early season storms the tropics had been quiet. This seems to be changing a bit as we start
into the peak time for tropical systems.
As of today, August 3, there is a single named storm in the Atlantic as
well as a couple areas of potential development. Tropical Storm Ernesto is heading
northwestward and is expected to slowly strengthen as it gets into areas more
conductive for development. As of now
the forecast track takes the storm past Jamaica, past the Yucatan and then into
the Gulf of Mexico. As with most
forecast tracks with tropical system, the future location of Ernesto is subject
to change drastically. The other two
areas of concern include a low probability of development over the northern
Bahamas and a tropical wave near the Cape Verde Islands with a moderate risk of
development over the next 48 hours. I
will update from time to time as the hurricane season progresses, especially if
there is potential for impact in the area.
As I have mentioned in several previous posts, tropical systems can
bring some very unusual birds inland given the right conditions. Species such as White-tailed Tropicbird,
Parasitic Jaeger, Sooty Tern, an unidentified large swift species and numerous
unusual shorebirds and other species arrived with Irene last August so there is
no telling what species can show up during and after a tropical storm. Here are a few links from the blog regarding
the birds associated with Hurricane Irene last year.
http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-on-large-swift-species.html
http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/08/upcoming-hurricane.html
In addition to the tropical activity I had a Louisiana Waterthrush singing at home this morning. I have had one singing first thing in the morning on and off for the last week or two. I also made a trip over to Quabbin and Covey WMA this evening trying for Whip-poor-wills but only got a lot of mosquito's! One bonus was seeing a very bright meteor streak across the sky...likely part of the Perseid meteor shower.
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