Today's Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count featured steady 15 mph northeast winds. Species diversity was again high, but numbers of redetermined nocturnal migrants were somewhat low in absence of a significant migratory movement. A total of 48 species and 813 individuals were counted on a nice varied flight to round out the first month of the season!
One of the highlights today included seeing three northbound Red-breasted Nuthatches, a couple of which provided nice views as they passed by. We expect to see more and more of these tiny boreal songbirds as they undergo a significant irruption movement southward into the states this fall and winter. Red-breasted Nuthatch irruptions are cyclical, and correspond to cycles of food availability in the boreal forest. Irruptions generally occur every other winter, and since the 2012 super irruption they have occurred on even years, though before irruptions occurred every odd year. Now it seems as if they might be switching back to an odd year again!
A screenshot of eBird reports of Red-breasted Nuthatches for August 2025 shows just how many are likely in the migration pipeline in states to our north:
Other highlights of the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count included five southbound Common Nighthawks early on, two Broad-winged Hawks, two American Kestrels, four Traill's Flycatchers, 199 Eastern Kingbirds, 52 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, 234 Bobolinks, 45 American Redstarts, and four first-of-season Black-throated Blue Warblers.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a slower day than yesterday but still recorded a number of hawks including seven Osprey, one Northern Harrier, and six Broad-winged Hawks. Stronger northeast winds tomorrow could certainly make for a busier day at the hawkwatch.
Steady 15+ mph northeast winds continue overnight which could make for a nice morning flight tomorrow. Winds are less ideal for migration over states north of Virginia, which limits the number of birds we see after a night of migration. There seem to be more cold front chances later next week, but in the meantime, we are eager what species will kick off the second month of the count!
Keep up to date with the daily Eastern Shore Migration Update right here on the CVWO Blog, and follow along with our migration counts live on Trektellen here:
Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250831
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250831
