Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 6

Winds were out of the northwest today coming in strong off the bay. A good number of migrants were moving initially before winds whipped up which killed the flight before calming down later morning. 

The flight at Sunset Beach was much more moderate and manageable than yesterday’s chaos. It was still a birdy day with totals of 39 species and 7107 individuals counted. American Robins again comprised the bulk of the flight with 2,863 northbound individuals mostly out to the east and 982 southbound including many sky-high flocks overhead. A northbound Baltimore Oriole was the first one seen in some time. Baywatching was productive with a few regulars moving around in the high winds as well as the season’s second sighting of Brown Booby, an immature bird northbound with a juvenile Northern Gannet for easy comparison.

American Pipit

 It was a slower day at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch with the northwest winds, but a few raptors were still moving earlier on the day. Twelve Cooper’s Hawks were the most numerous species, followed by nine of each Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed. American Robins had a strong southbound movement with 13,841 counted, with 8,435 of which being in the hour before sunrise.

Winds are calm overnight slowly increasing to south through tomorrow. Cave Swallows have built up in numbers to our north, and it’s likely only a matter of time before some make their way down to the Eastern Shore! Continued westerlies in the forecast will likely keep bringing more of this species into the area.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251104

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251104

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 5, 2025

Winds were strong out of the southwest this morning on the Eastern Shore. A massive movement of forward migrants heavily dominated by robins took place in the morning, with the largest volume of birds so far the entire season counted. A total of 35 species and 27,083 individuals were counted at the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count.

The air was thick with American Robins this morning at Sunset Beach. Overwhelming rivers crisscrossed the sky as wave after wave poured south, with many of the initial high groups making a 180 turn back to the north after reaching the tip of the peninsula. Totals of 18,461 southbound and 2,609 northbound individuals were counted after nearly three hours of frenzied clicking. Red-winged Blackbirds also contributed significant volume to the day with 2,261 southbound and 442 northbound.  Though lesser in number but still very notable, Cedar Waxwings had their largest migration flight so far with 857 southbound and 73 northbound. 

Though the bay was necessarily neglected during the hectic first hour of the flight, a few waterfowl were spotted throughout the remainder of the count including the season's first White-winged Scoter in a nice southbound mixed flock with five Black and two Surf Scoters. 

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also recorded a remarkable American Robin and Cedar Waxwing flight, totaling 31,236 southbound and 1,699 northbound robins and 1,345 southbound and 71 northbound waxwings. One of the American Robins was a leucistic individual showing white patchies in the wings and head, and what was possibly the same individual was possibly seen later at Magothy Bay. Rusty Blackbirds also put in a good showing with 113 counted southbound. Raptors were very slow after a trickle in the morning before strong southwest winds shut down the flight. Evening flight yielded a nice flight of 173 southbound Wood Ducks.

Leucistic American Robin

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251105

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251105

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 4, 2025

Strong northwest winds were blowing past the Eastern Shore today, with a chilly start to the morning and rough chop out on the bay. Forward migration was overall quite slow, as many birds seemed not to want to cross the bay in the rough conditions. Some of the more numerous in-season passerines engaged in strong northbound morning flight. Waterfowl were moving in decent numbers in diversity as well. 

At Sunset Beach, highlights of a nice waterfowl flight included 33 Wood Ducks, 31 American Wigeon, two first-of-season Gadwall, six Mallards, 44 Black Scoters, and four first-of-season Buffleheads. The songbird flight was heavily dominated by Yellow-rumped Warblers with 2,803 counted in a steady northbound flow all morning. American Robins also had a good showing with 1,453. Blackbirds were more strongly northbound than usual and for the first time this season many were dropping in to the campground to feed in a large wandering group dominated by Brown-headed Cowbirds. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a decent handful of raptors led by 17 Sharp-shinned Hawks, seven Bald Eagles, and seven Red-shouldered Hawks. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird continues to visit the platform feeder. A few nice passerine migrants included a late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a Baltimore Oriole. Evening flight at Kiptopeke yielded a nice flock of 82 American Pipits and a steady river of Tree Swallows totaling 2,996, likely birds going to roost. 

Southwest winds build tomorrow becoming strong by the evening before switching to northwest overnight. Northwesterly winds in November following low pressure systems sweeping across the Great Lakes are strongly associated with the arrival of Cave Swallows on the east coast, and such a movement appears to be underway in the Lakes region and farther north along the mid-Atlantic coast. With westerlies dominating the forecast for the next week and more cold fronts in store, it seems a good bet that these wandering southwestern swallows will pop up on the Eastern Shore soon!

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251104

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251104

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 3

Winds were steady out of the northeast this morning with intermittent drizzle and rain. Birds took advantage of the brief gaps in the rain, and both of our counts had decent diversity. 

Waterfowl were trickling through over the bay at Sunset Beach including 18 Ring-necked Ducks, seven Green-winged Teal, and a Lesser Scaup. Two northbound Wilson’s Snipe were nice to see. Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds were moving in small flocks in both directions, and 1658 American Robins were counted northbound. Five Cape May Warblers and a Northern Parula were a nice reminder that there’s still a just a few non-Yellow-rumped Warblers moving.

Rain kept most of the raptors down this morning at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch, but there was a handful of the expected species after the finally rain let up. A nice first-of-season for the hawkwatch, a Clay-colored Sparrow appeared by the platform in the early afternoon and spent the next couple hours foraging on the ground with a mixed sparrow flock. There was another nice evening flight in the final two hours of the count with 1,378 Tree Swallows, 5,704 American Robins, and 68 Wood Ducks. Three American Woodcocks also picked up right as light was fading.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Northwest winds pick up significantly tonight continuing overnight and into tomorrow, with lots of potential for another significant flight of American Robins and other late season songbird migrants. Strong northwesterly winds also tend to push waterfowl migrants closer to the bayshore. Winds shift to the southwest by Wednesday before northwest returns later in the week.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251103

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251103

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 2, 2025

Calm west winds shifting to northeast and a glassy bay were a welcome change from the rough conditions of the past couple of days. A wide variety of species were taking advantage of the calm weather and species across the whole taxonomic list were moving through today. Totals of 72 species and 13803 individuals were counted at Sunset Beach. 

Morning flight was excellent today with birds coating the sky everywhere our counting crew looked. Waterfowl had an especially good day with hundreds of ducks counted, mostly in small to medium-sized flocks distant out over the bay and across the airspace over the peninsula. Without a doubt, Wood Ducks stole the show with 276 counted. Other waterfowl highlights included 41 Green-winged Teal, 39 first-of-season Lesser Scaup, 23 Ring-necked Duck, 18 Northern Pintail, four first-of-season Long-tailed Ducks, and two Snow Geese. Other migrant diversity included five Red-shouldered Hawks, a late Broad-winged Hawk, 53 Northern Flickers, 49 Eastern Meadowlarks, and a nice November warbler roster including eight Cape May Warblers, one Blackpoll Warbler, and one Northern Parula.

Northern Pintail

Great Blue Herons

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also had a very birdy day with 43 species and 36,099 individuals counted. A nice late season trickle of raptors was highlighted by two first-of-season Golden Eagles, 10 Northern Harriers, seven Red-shouldered Hawks, and 14 Red-tailed Hawks. Several late species were detected including a Chimney Swift, a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. Things picked up in a major way in the final two hours of the count when a massive evening flight commenced. In the final hour and 45 minutes of the count, an astonishing 442 Wood Ducks, 9,097 Tree Swallows, and 17,191 American Robins were counted moving south!

Golden Eagle

Tomorrow looks like it will have a rainy start to the day followed by building northeast winds in the afternoon. If the rain clears out quickly enough, the northeast winds could prompt some raptor movement in the second half of the day. Looking ahead, northwest winds return Tuesday followed by a shift to southwest Wednesday, and another cold front bringing northwest once again on Thursday. Migration this time of year is an incredible spectacle, and this week will surely have some more amazing movements!

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251102

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251102

Eastern Shore Migration Update: October 31-November 1

Blasting west winds arrived on the Eastern Shore on the final day of October. Blackbirds, robins, and Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to dominate the Sunset Beach flight, and 39 species and 5332 individuals were counted. Waterbirds were also on the move pushed up against the bay shore by the strong winds and the roaring surf. Highlights included a nice push of 90 Northern Gannets and a group of four Brown Boobies with one gannet! Brown Boobies are now a regular summer presence in the upper Chesapeake. Though still a rare sight on the Eastern Shore, Brown Boobies seem to pass by Sunset Beach with some regularity once gannets move into the bay. 

Ducks were also on the moving with 33 American Wigeons being the most numerous species. A late Chimney Swift was also nice to see. At the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch the Swainson’s Hawk was seen kiting on the bayside of the platform before drifting north again. Other raptors were fairly slow other than a handful of 22 Sharp-shinned Hawks moving south. Two Caspian Terns and a Baltimore Oriole were on the late side for both species. The continuing Say's Phoebe also put in its final appearance up at Custis Tomb Drive just north of Kiptopeke.

Say's Phoebe

Winds November 1st were lighter and out of the west-northwest. A fair number of waterfowl were still moving around, and two first-of-season Red-throated Loons were counted. Two late Black-throated Blue Warblers were also nice to see, a southbound female and a northbound male. Chipping Sparrows had their biggest day so far with 68 northbound individuals counted. 

Raptors continue to trickle through at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch. The celebrity Swainson’s Hawk appeared for its third day in a row, and after drifting around on the bayside it eventually cruised south. It will be very interesting to see if this long-staying individual reappears, or if it has finally moved on to make the bay crossing. Other nice birds were a southbound Lesser Yellowlegs, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeder, and a strong blackbird flight consisting of 3095 Red-winged Blackbirds and 1532 Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Winds shift to the southwest overnight and will be lighter and variable tomorrow before shifting around to the east. Northeast winds build Monday before switching around to another northwest blast Monday night into Tuesday.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251101

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251101

Eastern Shore Migration Update: October 29-30

Yesterday’s counts mostly saw drizzle and northeast winds. Sunset Beach had a pretty nice flight regardless with 44 species and 5009 individuals. Highlights included 5 Brant, 52 Surf and 145 Black Scoters, 254 Fish Crows, a late Tennessee Warbler, and continuing flocks of Tree Swallows, American Robins, blackbirds, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also had a fairly busy day with nice counts of 32 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 8 Northern Harrier.

This morning was drizzly with strong winds out of the southeast this morning, falling out to south and building from the west by the afternoon. Sunset Beach had another good morning highlighted by 10 American Wigeon, a first-of-season Red-breasted Merganser, 4,629 Tree Swallows, and a nice late season showing of warblers with 10 Cape May, two Northern Parula and one Black-throated Blue.

Cape May Warbler

American Wigeon

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a slower start to the day, but things picked up in a big way in the afternoon when an intermediate juvenile Swainson’s Hawk flew south on the east side! This is the second Swainson’s Hawk for the hawkwatch this fall, is very likely the same individual as the bird that hung around Machipongo October 16th-26th. The Swainson’s was subsequently spotted at the Eastern Shore National Wildlife Refuge as well as Sunset Beach as it moved around the tip of the peninsula, and made another pass northbound past the hawkwatch late afternoon. Hopefully it will make another appearance on our counts tomorrow!

Bonaparte’s Gull

Swainson’s Hawk

The cold front pushing through this evening  will bring westerly winds tomorrow and Saturday. Westerlies are some of the most interesting winds on the Eastern Shore, and we’re excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts with our daily migration update on Facebook, Instagram, and the CVWO Blog: 

https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog-1

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251030

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251030

Eastern Shore Migration Update: October 28, 2025

Today saw the arrival of a nor'easter type low pressure system moving up the coast bringing blasting northeast winds and rain to the Shore. Conditions were challenging, though bay watching was made possible by the sheltered deck of the Sunset Beach Bar and Grille. Totals of 23 species and 813 individuals were counted. 

Rain and strong 30-40 mph winds all but killed the passerine morning flight with only a handful of brave Yellow-rumped Warblers zipping around and a few coming in off the bay. A few flocks of Tree Swallows were moving around as well. There were a few interesting sightings over the bay when haze temporarily cleared including a small duck flight and the season's first three Dunlin moving north. 

Waterfowl were also detected by the hawkwatch crew from the Kiptopeke SP Fishing Pier, including most notably a drake Harlequin Duck! Likely a returning individual from last year, the Harlequin showed very well throughout the morning at the Fishing Pier and was even visible from Sunset Beach looking north. The hawk-turned-bay watchers also had a couple nice shorebird flyovers including seven Red Knots, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and a Least Sandpiper. Weather allowed a quick afternoon hawkwatch count that yielded four Osprey, two Sharp-shinned and one Cooper's Hawk, six Northern Harriers, an American Kestrel and two Merlins.

Harlequin Duck (Audrey Anderson)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audrey Anderson)

Forster’s Tern (Audrey Anderson)

Winds will be somewhat calmer tomorrow and rain is forecasted to hold off until later tomorrow night, so our counts should be back to their regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. A major wind shift is still forecasted Friday which will bring very strong westerlies to the Eastern Shore with the arrival of a major cold front. West winds always have serious potential on the coast, and we're excited to see what shows up!

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251028

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251028

Eastern Shore Migration Update: October 27, 2025

Northeast winds continued began to build this morning under heavy overcast skies. At the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count totals of 44 species and 7,157 individuals were counted. 

American Robins had their best day yet with 2,814 counted. Blackbirds were showing strongly once again including 34 Rusty Blackbirds. Yellow-rumped Warblers took a little bit of a break today with 601 counted. Ducks had a decent flight with 15 Wood Ducks, 45 Green-winged Teal, 31 Surf and 10 Black Scoters.

The hawkwatch had its busiest day in a while with the return of northeast winds. Sharp-shinned Hawks took the lead with 78 closely followed by Cooper’s with 72 counted. Northern Harriers had a bit of a resurgence as well with 10 counted. There were a number of nice non-raptors counted today as well, with the biggest surprise being an early morning Cattle Egret. A late Chinney Swift and Tennessee Warbler along with a leucistic Song Sparrow added some more flavor to the day.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Northeast winds continue to build as a  low pressure system works its way up the coast bringing chances of rain Wednesday. An arctic blast seems poised to arrive by the end of the much with much colder temperatures and westerly winds heralding the arrival of November, and hopefully some interesting birds too!

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251027

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251027

Eastern Shore Migration Update: October 26, 2025

This morning saw light winds and high overcast skies. At the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count totals of 45 species and 5,192 individuals were counted. 

Yellow-rumped Warblers, Tree Swallows, Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins continue to move in good numbers. There was a good diversity of other birds mixed in, including the count’s first-of-season Blue-headed Vireo northbound, 14 American Pipits, a Dickcissel, and 52 Forster’s Terns moving south over the bay. A very strange sight was a young White-tailed Deer buck swimming straight out into the bay, eventually  lost in the distance!

Over at the hawkwatch it was a slow day for raptors, with the raptor movement ending around midday. Morning flight at the hawkwatch was quite busy and including nice counts of 2,327 American Robins and 3,401 Yellow-rumped Warblers moving south. A Lincoln’s Sparrow also continued around the platform. Despite the erroneous claims of the Hawkwatch team, Sunset Beach leads the Hawkwatch in the Dickcissel World Series 13 to 12.

Westerly winds paid off in a big way this afternoon when a Say’s Phoebe was discovered at Custis Tomb Drive north of Kiptopeke! Say’s Phoebes are very rare vagrants from western North America, and this is the fourth record of this species on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The phoebe put on a great show all afternoon as it hunted from roadside power lines and perched on a nearby house!

Say’s Phoebe

Northeast winds build tomorrow and will continue to increase in strength through midweek as a low pressure system slides up the coast bringing rain chances by Tuesday.

Follow along with our counts live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251026

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251026