Slightly calmer winds with a more westerly component made for a more interesting day today at Sunset Beach. More migrants were able to make headway across the lighter crosswinds, with improved diversity and numbers of migrants overall. Totals of 41 species and 701 individuals were counted.
The bulk of today’s diverse flight was still comprised by
swallows, of which Barn Swallows had their best day so far with 326, followed
by 74 Purple Martin. Eastern Kingbirds had their first notable push of the
season so far with 51 today and many more to come. Red-winged Blackbirds also
were on the move, totaling 78. Warblers remained slow overall, with only three
American Redstarts alongside one Louisiana Waterthrush and a handful of other unidentified waterthrushes.
There were a few uncommon highlights today including an
early first-of-season Northern Harrier, a beautiful adult male “gray ghost” that
floated overhead in the early morning light. Shorebirds included four distant dowitchers
and five Stilt Sandpipers out over Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR. Three Black
Terns also made a closer pass this morning, and four Least Terns were counted
farther out over the bay. A juvenile American Oystercatcher flying directly
overhead headed inland to the northeast was also an unusual sight, with most
detections of this beach-nesting shorebird here being far out over the
Chesapeake Bay.
More variety in wind direction is expected in the coming
days, which should make for a welcome change of pace in terms of migration.
Tonight’s lighter westerlies could deliver another more interesting day tomorrow
as nocturnal migrants are drifted to the Eastern Shore from the interior.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update on CVWO social
media and the CVWO blog: https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog
And follow along with the count live every morning on
Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260810
