Conditions stayed essentially dry this morning at Sunset Beach, though rain in the area and strong south-southwesterly winds put a damper on the volume of migrants. Despite the slower day, there were still a couple uncommon surprises this morning. Totals of 19 species and 157 individuals were counted.
Land bird activity was clearly suppressed by the wind and the
at times gloomy and low overcast cloud cover, though a few birds were still
moving. Purple Martins (69) were much diminished compared with the numbers over
the weekend, and Barn Swallows (7) were the only other swallow species detected.
A couple waders including the season’s first three Glossy Ibis and two
northbound Yellow-crowned Night Herons were nice to see, the latter of which
was not detected all of last season and only has one prior record from this
site. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon provided some excitement as it drifted in
overhead before shooting off to harass an Osprey. Like yesterday's bird, this Peregrine sported green leg bands and could well be the same individual hanging around the
area. Two Gull-billed Terns also made a pass out over the highway before
drifting back to the northeast.
With not much happening over the peninsula, it was a good
morning to pay close attention to movement over the Chesapeake Bay. Another
distant Wilson’s Storm-Petrel was spotted fluttering south, and terns were
steadily trickling south into the wind, The full roster of expected tern
species was nearly reached with 17 Common, 17 Sandwich, 15 Royal, two Least,
and one each Forster’s and Black Tern counted, leaving only Caspian or a rare
surprise unseen. Black Terns in particular often appear with unsettled
conditions and frontal boundaries, and the coming week may well yield more of
this locally uncommon migrant.
Tomorrow’s weather is predicted to shift to light winds from
the northeast by the morning, though overnight southerlies and rain to our
north will likely limit overnight migration. Depending on if any precipitation
occurs, it could be a good morning for forward migrants like swallows.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update on the CVWO blog, and follow along live every morning on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260802
