Light northwest winds led to a slower morning in terms of numbers today at Sunset Beach, but the flight decent in terms of diversity. Clouds were lacking initially, but a nice high bank rolled in later in the morning which helped scanning considerably. A total of 36 species and 225 individuals were counted throughout the morning.
No one species had a standout movement this morning, but there was a trickle of warblers throughout to keep scanning for with one Northern Waterthrush, four waterthrush sp., one Black-and-white Warbler, six American Redstarts, five Yellow and two Pine Warblers counted. A northbound Belted Kingfisher was one of few detected on the count so far, as was a southbound Red-headed Woodpecker. A first-of-season Solitary Sandpiper was a nice pickup, though it was only detected by its distinctive pweet-pweet flight call.
Local birds hanging around the count site offered a bit more entertainment than the migrants this morning. Five Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were counted zooming north including one flying in off the bay, but a local visiting the trumpet vine throughout the morning provided by far the best and most prolonged views.
A small mixed flock picked up in activity later in the morning. in the trees north of the parking area, with several warbler species joining up with local Brown-headed Nuthatches and Carolina Chickadees. In addition to a few Pine, Black-and White, a redstart, and a Yellow-throated, a nice early Blackburnian Warbler showed well throughout the morning and represented another first-of-season for the count.
We continue to track Hurricane Erin as the forecast takes shape over the next few days. Erin will make its closest approach to the Virginia coast around midday on Thursday, and will be accompanied by strong northeast winds. While the storm passes far offshore, it seems possible that these winds may blow birds towards the coast.
A cold front moves through Thursday night and the north northwest winds leading into Friday morning look like a promising setup after Erin's passage. We will continue to monitor the conditions over the next few days, and our thoughts on the migratory implications will continue to be shared to the CVWO Blog. We will be back tomorrow with the next daily Eastern Shore Migration Update!
Catch us live every morning on Trektellen to track real-time updates throughout each morning: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250818
