What? A medium and high ‘lights out’ alert level for the Puget Sound area.
When I heard Jay say this, this afternoon, I was waiting for the punch line
because I have never heard of this before today.
But it is a “THING” medium and hight “lights out” alert.
The highest alert days were for April 17, April 19, and April 20.
On Saturday, Aeroeco Lab projected 8,800 birds would migrate over Seattle
and 4,700 birds over Tacoma, with 3.6 million birds migrating over Washington.
On Monday night, more than 10,000 birds are projected to fly over Seattle and Tacoma.
A total of 2.5 million are expected to fly over the state on Monday.
The same goes for Tuesday night when another 10,000 birds are expected over Seattle and Tacoma,
with a total of 2.5 million flying over the state.
The Audubon Society has tips to reduce light pollution from your home or business here,
including window coverings, turning off outdoor ornamental lights,
and shading lights to prevent upward cast.
Reducing light pollution is generally a good practice but is especially important
during migration seasons – and even more so when forecast show large numbers
of birds transiting through metro areas, like this week.
The assistant professor of biology at the University of Washington
and bird curator for the Burke Museum,
said birds migrate at night to avoid predators and take advantage of cooler temperatures to dissipate body heat.
Even taking periods of time to turn off outdoor sources of light can help, as birds that have congregated
to artificial sources can re-orient fairly quickly and leave the area.
More information about the project is on Aeroeco Lab’s website.