Very light northwest winds and clearing skies made for an active morning of migration at Sunset Beach, with totals of 55 species and 1075 individuals counted.
It felt like a little bit of everything was moving today at Sunset Beach during the very calm conditions. Warblers did well for the calm conditions, and 89 Northern Parulas were most numerous. Six Northern Waterthrushes were the most counted in a little while. Yellow-rumped Warblers increased also with six, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets totaled four. A Dickcissel gave two distinctive flight calls as it moved south. Raptors were active as well highlighted by a solid flight of 64 Sharp-shinned Hawks. Four Yellow-billed Cuckoos were counted, the first that have been around in some time. The season’s first Wood Ducks were also counted, a southbound and northbound drake.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch saw nearly nonstop action all day during an excellent flight of 1577 raptors with birds all over the sky. Some raptors were finding thermals and soaring up incredibly high, while others seemed to be contending more with the light southerly winds and were coming over throughout the day at treetop height. Sharp-shinned Hawks had their first big flight of the year totaling 770, and American Kestrels also showed strongly with 410. Northern Harriers were surprisingly in third place coming in at 93, and many gave excellent views over the platform. High Bald Eagles were a steady presence throughout and brought the day’s total to 50, a very good count for the site.
Radar indicates a strong local liftoff of nocturnal migrants tonight, though southwest winds will probably keep migration limited. If winds remain light through the day it could be a good day at the hawkwatch, though with diminished numbers as fewer raptors migrate into the headwind.
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/3748/20260930
