It was a dreary and drizzly morning at the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count, but birds were still on the move on the northeast wind. A total of 30 species and 174 individuals were counted today.
Most of the birds moving today were warblers coming in low through the bushes lining the east side of the parking lot. A fair number went unidentified with very brief views, but reasonable tallies including 36 American Redstart, 18 Northern Waterthrush, and 18 Common Yellowthroat. Two Brown Thrashers also worked their way north, an apparent arrival at the count site.
Photography was a challenge today given the dark and wet conditions, so in lieu of a warbler flight shot a northbound Solitary Sandpiper that took off after the drizzle subsided late morning will do nicely.
Solitary Sandpiper
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was all but rained out this morning, with the count terminating by 10:45 am with only a single southbound Osprey counted. Counter Sage Church found other ways to occupy the rest of the day however, and pulled off a fantastic roster of rare migrants over at the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge including Yellow-throated Vireo, Mourning and Golden-winged Warblers, and Clay-colored Sparrow.
Tomorrow looks promising with north winds overnight and somewhat clearer skies by the morning. Conditions dry out for the foreseeable future, and consistent northerlies going into the weekend should yield some very nice flights in the coming days.
Stay tuned for more daily Eastern Shore Migration Updates right here on the CVWO Blog, and follow along with both of our counts live on Trektellen for real-time migration updates:
Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count:
https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250910
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch:
