Another day of clear skies and very calm north winds made for an active morning at Sunset Beach. Overnight radar indicated the largest nocturnal migration of the season so far in the Mid-Atlantic region. Though lack of westerly element limited numbers overall locally, numbers were slightly lower overall than yesterday, there was still a nice diversity of migrants, and 43 species and 381 individuals were counted.
The morning was off to an exciting start when four northbound
Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks passed right overhead after announcing their presence with their whistling calls! It is hard to imagine that
these were not the same individuals as Mario had moving south on the morning of
the 16th, and it is interesting to ponder where these ducks spent the last two
days. There is not much suitable habitat between Sunset Beach and the Chesapeake
Bay, though it’s possible these individuals explored Fisherman Island for a
couple days before returning to their regular haunts at the silos near
Eastville.
Warblers had another good day with 10 species counted
including 42 American Redstarts, the season’s first Blackburnian Warbler, and
another very early dispersing Yellow-rumped Warbler, the third for the season
so far. The first four Bobolinks of the season were also counted, two of which
were mercifully low and visible flyovers. Bobolinks often pass over flying very
high while giving their distinctive “bink” flight calls, and their pale plumage
is notoriously difficult to spot against a bright blue sky.
Numbers of forward migrants were down again today, with many
of the numerous typically southbound species moving north including a majority
of the day’s 43 Eastern Kingbirds, 41 Purple Martins, and 20 Blue-gray
Gnatcatchers. Watching the local birds also
often provides interesting observations, and a Northern Mockingbird’s repeated attempts
to catch an Obscure Bird Grasshopper in the parking lot were entertaining to
watch.
Southerly winds return tomorrow and seem likely to put the brakes
on migration once more, though forward migrants may see an increase compared to
today.
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/3748/20260819
