Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 9, 2025

Signs of migration continued today with a moderate flight of 43 species and 545 individuals. Low cloud cover provided good viewing conditions and steady northeast winds continued throughout the count, eventually turning gusty towards the end of the count.

A number of warblers were still moving today, though in slightly reduced numbers compared to yesterday led by 99 American Redstarts, 21 Northern Waterthrushes and 14 Northern Parulas.

Northern Parula

Falcons were on the move again today and three American Kestrels were seen flying northeast low over the bay, seemingly coming back in off the water from somewhere. Another exciting raptor sighting was a distant Mississippi Kite that circled up to the southeast later on in the morning, a nice first of season for the morning flight count of this uncommon species. 

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had another good day as hoped for with strong northeast winds. American Kestrel numbers were particularly high with 94 counted. Another Mississippi Kite was another highlight, as were the season’s first six Sharp-shinned Hawks. Swallows were also out in force with 1,037 Purple Martins and a noticeable influx of Tree Swallows, with 212 counted. 

Northeast winds hold tonight, but scattered showers in the morning may prevent much of a morning flight from happening. We’ll be out there counting what flies by regardless, and hopefully the skies will clear by afternoon for some raptor migration. Thursday and Friday are looking quite promising for migration with continued north winds, and significant migration flights are anticipated as we draw nearer to peak songbird migration.

Follow along with our counts right here on the CVWO Blog, and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time count updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250909

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250909

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 8, 2025

The dry conditions overnight coupled with a steady north wind provided very favorable migration conditions over the mid Atlantic, and the highest volume migration so far of the season followed. Winds switching to north-northeast overnight may have kept numbers slightly lower at Sunset Beach and the early flight line was mostly out to the east towards the refuge, but it was still a nice morning with some solid diversity with 53 species and 1118 individuals counted.

Warblers put in a good appearance this morning with 14 species. American Redstarts dominated as expected with 212, but a surprising second place went to an even 60 Common Yellowthroats. Yellowthroats were shooting through at eye level all morning, with many passing through below the eaves of the bathhouse. Other warblers included a nice first of season Bay-breasted and a low flyby Hooded, a rarer migrant on the Eastern Shore.

Common Yellowthroat

Other highlights included a Common Nighthawk and a good movement of high southbound ibis with 125 White and 5 Glossy counted. Two of each Merlin and American Kestrel were counted moving south, and two engaged in some dogfighting allowing for nice comparison shots.

American Kestrel and Merlin 

Up at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch, the strong northeast yielded the first day over 100 raptors so far this season. Falcons were zipping by all afternoon and evening, and totals of 60 American Kestrel and 43 Merlin were tallied, including a couple Merlins even moving after sunset. White Ibis had a good southbound movement with 288, and Green Herons had an excellent late evening liftoff with 69 coming over in small flocks. 

Northeast winds seem to allow lots of birds to depart the shore after they arrive, and that seems to be the case tonight by the looks of the radar. Tomorrow could still have a flight of anything arriving, but it will likely be a bit slower. Raptors should continue to move all week with continued northeast winds. A few nights later in the week may shift back to due north, which could allow for some better overnight arrivals.

Keep up with the counts here with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog, and follow along with our count live on Trektellen here: 

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250908

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250908

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 7, 2025

Sunset Beach had a little more in store today after the passage of an overnight cold front. Widespread rain with the cold front across states to our north kept migration slow overnight, but there were more signs of migration today than the past several days. Totals 37 species and 403 individuals were counted. 

Warbler diversity was much better than the past couple days with 10 species counted today, including a first of season Magnolia and the season’s second Tennessee. Two Black-throated Blue Warblers also made nice flybys.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

The heavy overcast skies and north winds rolling in with the cold front also appeared to influence migration over the bay. Two more southbound Black Terns were nice to see, extending this species’ streak to day three at the count. A distant jaeger was also spotted way out over the bay moving south, and right after the official count was over dedicated bay watchers Mario Balitbit and Aylett Lipford picked up two Parasitic Jaegers moving south together. Further bay watching efforts later in the morning from an elevated vantage point at Kiptopeke State Park yielded at least four more distant unidentified jaegers southbound over the bay as the front passed. 

Sometimes the highlights of migration counts are not incredible migration spectacles nor outstanding rarities. Sometimes, the highlights are the quirky local species that are curiously absent from a given location. Such species are often only truly appreciated by the counter, who knows the ins and outs of the count site intimately. For instance, two interesting columbids, one abundant and one uncommon and local in the region, are both notably rare at Sunset Beach. Single individuals of these two species, Rock Pigeon and Eurasian Collared-Dove, graced the count site with their presence today. Occasionally spotting these curiously absent species is one of the many reasons migration counting is a thrill. 

Things were also busier over at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch, with 26 Osprey, two Northern Harrier, three American Kestrel counted. With a solid week of northeast winds forecasted, the hawkwatch will hopefully see a very exciting week after today!

North winds continue tonight and with no rain impeding bird’s progress, conditions should be favorable for migration to our north. Following three nights of steady south winds, tonight will very likely be a significant migration event and a good morning flight should be expected tomorrow.

Be sure to catch our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog, and follow along with our counts live on Trektellen: 

Sunset Beach: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250907

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250907

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 6, 2025

 Southerly winds and blue skies continued today at Sunset Beach. There were some stirrings in the air today and a comparable number of birds were moving compared to yesterday with 369 individuals and 25 species counted.

Most of the birds counted today were Eastern Kingbirds (98) and Barn Swallows (81). There was some decent action out over the bay, with 21 Blue-winged Teal and four Black Terns showing nicely out over the water. 

Reverse migration was once again off the menu, but a couple southbound passerines included one each of Black-throated Blue and Cape May Warblers, as well as a heard only first-of-season Dickcissel. 

White Ibis are often seen moving north in the early morning, including 44 this morning. Some of these birds likely represent local birds departing roosts near Wise Point, but others may also be engaging in some sort of migratory movement. An immature made a nice close pass directly overhead this morning.

White Ibis

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was notably slow today, with only Broad-winged Hawks and no other raptors counted. Thankfully the main crew were spared the blinding blue skies and paucity of raptors as they were tooling around on the beach at Chincoteague looking at the Snowy Plover!

Tomorrow is looking like an interesting day with the passage of an overnight cold front. Rain to our north may stall out passerines, though it’s still possible a number make it down for a flight tomorrow morning. It could be an interesting day to look out over the water and to look for migrating shorebirds. Monday is currently looking like the more interesting day for migratory land birds after things dry out and north winds continue.

Stay up-to-date with the migratory happenings on the Eastern Shore here on the CVWO Blog, and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250903

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250903

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 5, 2025

Today was a similarly slow day to yesterday at Sunset Beach with continued WSW winds. In these conditions, there is typically little to speak for in terms of reverse migration and visible migration on the bayside of the Eastern Shore. The highlights were 16 Blue-winged Teal and three Black Terns moving south out in the bay as well as a single Eurasian Collared-Dove shooting south over Route 13.

Several shorebird groups passed over including five Pectoral and 38 Semipalmated Sandpipers. Later in the morning a Peregrine Falcon was moving north on the seaside of the peninsula which I imagine is the main culprit of the shorebirds moving overhead of sunset as it patrolled the potato fields to the north flushing migrant shorebirds and pushing them south. 

Though not rare by any means, five Indigo Buntings passed high overhead this morning. To me this felt notable that, despite unconducive winds, several small groups of Indigo Buntings were still moving.

Assistant Morning Flight Counter - Eugene

Despite similar conditions to yesterday, Eastern Kingbird and Barn Swallow numbers were down (for Kingbirds 202 to 57 and for Barn Swallows 269 to 48). To me the migrants that came from the shift to WSW winds are drying up. Tomorrow the winds are going the be coming more directly from the south which will likely lead to a quite morning but maybe a slight mix up in the swallow diversity.

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a slow day as well with only 12 total raptors. Their big highlight was 10 Black Terns circling above the platform. Black Terns are fairly uncommon on the accessible parts of the shore so seeing a flock from the hawk platform is notable.

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The Psychology of a Counter: South Winds

In a new release from this popular column, we discuss life and decisions of a counter on south winds. Building upon past releases from this column, we explored the challenges of counters taking adequate time off from their migration post. This time we will discuss the blessing of south winds.

The golden ticket when selecting a day off as a counter is south winds. South winds are typically poor all around for migration in the fall. Sure, there can be an oddball southern bird here and there, but overall there is little migration on a south wind. This means that a counter can typically take a peaceful day birding away from their post or relaxing without the constant fear of what they may miss at their site. Today the head morning flight counter took an appropriate day off from Sunset Beach and didn't set foot on the property for the first time in over a month. Woohoo! Healthy counters out here! We did have the first of season Blue-winged Teal and Eurasian Collared-Dove but overall Baxter selected a safe day off with no megas or impressive flights missed.

Unfortunately for the rest of Virginia birders, Baxter and Max Nootbaar struck gold on the hook at Chincoteague NWR today and found a second state record Snowy Plover! Many unfortunate souls will likely be taking the eight mile round trip hike down and back for this great bird.

Keep up with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO blog and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time updates

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250903

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250903

-Andrew

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 4, 2025

Today’s sunset beach morning flight count was slow for reverse migration as anticipated with steady southwest winds. Forward migrants, namely Barn Swallows and Eastern Kingbirds, had a good day and heavily contributed to the total of 15 species and 544 individuals.

Barn Swallows (269) and Eastern Kingbirds (202) were moving early on in the day with a steady southbound trickle of tight groups passing low over the campground and parking lot. Interestingly this movement started well before the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch detected numbers of these species, with the bulk of their movement taking place later on in the day.

Other migrant species were few and far between today. A flock of ten very distant Blue-winged Teal southbound over the bay were nice to see, and represented a first-of-season for the count. A dark juvenile Peregrine Falcon came cruising by low, likely a local bird on the prowl and not an active migrant.

The menhaden trawling boats were out in the bay again today, a regular sight these days from Sunset Beach. These boats attract hundreds of birds hoping for an easy meal as the masses of fish are hauled in. Lots of Brown Pelicans moved past after congregating around the fleet. 

Brown Pelican

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was also slow but still recorded a trickle of raptors including 9 Osprey, 2 Northern Harriers, 5 Broad-winged Hawks, and 2 American Kestrels. A flight of 611 Barn Swallows was also notable.

South winds continue for the next two  trickle of raptors including 9 Osprey, 2 Northern Harriers, 5 Broad-winged Hawks, and 2 American Kestrels. A flight of 611 Barn Swallows was also notable.

South winds continue for the next two days and are unlikely to yield any kind of significant nocturnal migration, though some more swallows may continue to move into the winds. We continue to track the cold front moving in over the weekend, and Sunday and early next week could be productive.  

Keep up with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250903

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250903

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 3, 2025

Calm north winds led to a light day of migration at the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. Not a whole lot was on the move this morning, but 32 species and 253 individuals were still counted exhibiting migratory behavior. 

Reverse migrants were few and far between this morning. There was a slight uptick in Pine Warbler numbers, with a total of seven northbound individuals counted. No warbler species hit double digits this morning, but there was decent diversity overall with eight species counted. A bonus "local" Prothonotary Warbler was hanging around the southern trees, an uncommon migrant here and only the second of the season.

Pine Warbler

A major highlight of the morning was a large dark flycatcher that appeared over the southern tree line and flew low overhead showing long wings and a strong vested pattern- an Olive-sided Flycatcher! Photos were only obtained after the bird passed overhead, also showing the long and marked undertail coverts as it shot north. Olive-sided Flycatchers are generally a scarce migrant, and especially rare on Virginia's coast. They seem to be having a good season so far out here, and it was great to get one in morning flight!

Olive-sided Flycatcher

A Traill's (Willow/Alder) Flycatcher also stopped for a while, allowing for very close and prolonged study. This individual shows some features trending towards both species, a great example of why this species pair is so notoriously difficult to identify.

Traill's Flycatcher

Swallow numbers were low at Sunset Beach, but a small feeding cluster of Barn Swallows was joined by two Bank Swallows, always a nice bird to see on the count and one that will probably not be around for a whole lot longer. 

Bank Swallow engaging in aerial insectivore behavior

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also had a slower day, with 12 Osprey, one Northern Harrier, one Broad-winged Hawk, and three American Kestrels counted. More swallows were on the move, the vast majority being 385 Barn Swallows with a smattering of 32 Purple Martin, two Tree and one Cliff Swallow mixed in.

Strong southwest to south winds and warmer weather arrives tomorrow, which will likely put migration to a halt. The forecasted cold front is still expected to arrive Saturday night, possibly bringing a few showers and a major wind shift to the north by Sunday morning. Sunday is looking like a promising day for migration; we'll see what ends up happening!

Keep up with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250903

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250903

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 2, 2025

Today’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count again featured northeast winds and blue skies. Today was a bit busier than yesterday with 43 species and 739 individuals counted.

Birds were going all over the place today. Eastern Kingbirds had a good day with comparable northbound and southbound numbers, with 210 and 219 counted respectively. One kingbird saw fit to relieve itself on the head of this author as it moved north. Thankfully volunteer counter Will Burgoyne was on hand with a convenient napkin to clean up the kingbird’s mess.

Eastern Kingbird— look out!

Northern Waterthrushes were a standout amidst a moderate warbler flight, with a total of 20 individuals counted. A number of warblers distant to the east were likely also this species. Other passerines were fairly slow overall, though it was nice to hear a Red-breasted Nuthatch calling from the lines early on. Two Bank Swallows were nice to see as well, after a week or so absence from the count site.

Volunteer counter Will Burgoyne was handy with the camera this morning, and provided some nice warbler flight shots for the blog:

Northern Waterthrush

Northern Parula

Cape May Warbler

Other highlights included the season’s first Wilson’s Snipe, northbound high to the east over the highway early on. A few hawks were on the move, and one Broad-winged and one Cooper’s Hawk provided a nice comparison as they moved south together. Five more Broad-wings circled up but retreated north in classic Broad-winged fashion. These small Buteos are reluctant to cross large bodies of water, and often do laps around the southern Eastern Shore while they muster the courage to cross the Chesapeake.

Cooper’s (left) and Broad-winged (right) Hawks

Over at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch things were a bit slower, but 11 of each Osprey and Broad-winged Hawks were counted moving south. Swallows were on the move again, and aesthetic tallies of 111 Purple Martins and 222 Barn Swallows were counted.

After a long day of counting, some incidental discoveries on Seaside Road served as a good reminder of how many rare birds on the Eastern Shore are found on random roadsides. Between our three counters, a Lark Sparrow, a Buff-breasted and White-rumped Sandpipers were all discovered in quick succession in a small area at the intersection of Seaside Road and Cedar Grove Drive this evening!

White-rumped Sandpiper

Lark Sparrow

Winds fall out overnight but should still retain a light northerly element, and it’s possible a light flight will occur tomorrow. Looking ahead to the rest of the week, a warm up with south winds is expected for the latter part of the week. Currently, a significant cold front is forecasted for sometime over the weekend, which we will be watching with great interest.

Keep up with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog and be sure to check out our Trektellen pages for real-time updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250902

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250902

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 1, 2025

The first September day of the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count had a light flight on steady northeast winds. The totals for the day were 36 species and 371 individuals. 

Northeast winds are often somewhat productive for migration here, but generally do not produce a significant warbler flight. That was the case today on a day with little in the way of warbler morning flight. Northern Waterthrushes had a marginally better morning compared to other species with nine counted, six southbound and three northbound. 

Other passerine highlights included the season’s first Eastern Meadowlark northbound over the campground and a decent flight of 37 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

A few raptors were on the move this morning, with a Cooper’s Hawk shooting through early, a very high Merlin shooting off over the bay, two American Kestrels, and one Osprey counted.

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch crew had a better day with the stronger northeast winds. Raptor totals included 16 Osprey, one Northern Harrier, four Broad-winged Hawk, one Peregrine Falcon, three Merlin and 12 Kestrel. Other notable sightings included two flyover Whimbrel crossing over from the bayside, a rare sighting for the hawkwatch, as well as a Bank and two Cliff Swallows mixed with a small Barn Swallow flight.

An apparent juvenile Merlin with full crop passing by the platform

Tomorrow’s conditions appear similar with a slightly diminished wind. Looking ahead later in the week, winds are forecasted to switch to the south by Thursday and Friday with the next cold front forecasted to arrive sometime over the weekend. The switching winds always have the potential to bring something interesting to the Eastern Shore.

Follow along with our latest migration updates here on the CVWO Blog, and keep up with our two migration counts real-time on our Trektellen pages at the following links: 

Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250901

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250901