Eastern Shore Migration Update: August 4, 2026

 

Yesterday’s prediction of a slow day for reorienting migrants was not born out this morning at Sunset Beach; by contrast it was a great diverse morning for both forward and reverse migrants alike! The cold front to our north clearly encouraged a number of migrants to initiate migration last night, and light north-northwest winds just barely reaching the region predawn was enough to drift a number of early migrants to the Eastern Shore. Totals of 48 species and1083 individuals were counted this morning.

Today’s flight was variable as were the conditions throughout the morning, though the count period was influenced by fairly heavy cloud cover with the sun only occasionally breaking through. Brighter periods of sunshine seemed to correlate with more movement early in the day, though forward migrants picked up later on under heavier clouds. Migrants were dominated by 270 Red-winged Blackbirds, 201 White Ibis, and a significant southbound flight of 151 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, likely a new high count for the state! Warblers had their best morning of the year so far with a good count of 36 American Redstarts along with three Northern Yellow Warblers, two Pine Warblers, two Louisiana Waterthrushes, and one each of Northern Waterthrush and Black-and-white Warbler, both first-of-seasons.

Northern Waterthrush

White Ibis

Louisiana Waterthrush

Other highlights of this diverse morning included three Hudsonian Whimbrel, 24 Chimney Swifts, three American Kestrels, and a flock of six Gull-billed Terns dropping out of the low clouds as they moved down south to the Chesapeake Bay. Swallows also had a good day led by 157 Barn Swallows and 94 Purple Martins, as well as two first-of-season Bank Swallows.

Gull-billed Tern

Chimney Swift

American Redstart

Southerly winds are forecasted overnight and into tomorrow morning which will likely stall most overnight migration. It seems plausible some birds will still be moving around following today’s heavier movement, especially forward migrants like swallows that may continue into lighter headwinds.  

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update on the CVWO blog, and follow along with the count live every morning on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260802

Eastern Shore Migration Update: August 3, 2026

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.

Peregrine Falcon

Bald Eagle

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.

Forster's Tern

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

Eastern Shore Migration Update: August 2, 2026

Today’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight count featured an enjoyably busy and diverse flight of 1086 individuals and 38 species. While steady southeast winds were not conducive to a significant flight of reorienting nocturnal migrants, forward migrants were on the move today dominated heavily by Purple Martins (800) which flowed south in a steady overhead stream throughout the morning. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers also put in a strong early showing with 40 southbound individuals, and these tiny birds’ pale plumage and high flight path put our counters’ “gnat vision” to the test.

Cliff Swallow

Orchard Oriole

A handful of other swallows embedded in the Purple Martin flight provided some nice diversity and great views throughout the morning as they hugged the bay shore, including 32 Tree, 15 Barn, 12 Northern Rough-winged, and one Cliff Swallow, a fairly rare and sporadic migrant on the Eastern Shore. There was a taste of shorebird diversity as well with two Solitary Sandpipers, three Lesser Yellowlegs and one Stilt Sandpiper, a first record for Sunset Beach! Other highlights included a juvenile Peregrine Falcon blasting south overhead, Orchard Orioles (6) moving in both directions, a trickle of southbound Common Terns (34), and a definitively local Yellow-billed Cuckoo carrying nesting material for the second morning in a row, a stark reminder that some species are very much still in the thick of their breeding season.

Summer Tanager

Pileated Woodpecker

Purple Martin

The forecast for tomorrow shows south winds with steady rain throughout the morning. Precipitation events have the potential to bring down migratory waterbirds including shorebirds and terns, though heavy rainfall will likely halt most migration and potentially delay or cancel the count. Barring truly unworkable conditions, we will still be out to see what’s flying at Sunset Beach!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update here on the CVWO blog, and follow along live every morning on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260802

Eastern Shore Migration Update: August 1, 2026

Today marked the first day of the second season of the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count! It was a diverse morning for the start of the season on steady southwest winds, with a total of 638 individuals and 38 species counted. Fittingly, the first bird counted for the official start of the season was one of the day’s three Louisiana Waterthrushes, a scarce and iconic and early season migrant on the Eastern Shore! 

Other highlights of the morning included three Northern Yellow Warblers, a noticeable southbound push of Brown Pelicans (51), a strong swallow flight heavily dominated by Purple Martins (375) with a smattering of Northern Rough-winged Swallows (25), a high count for a locally uncommon migrant. The morning was capped by a nice Wilson’s Storm-Petrel southbound over the bay spotted by count coordinator Andrew Rapp, a fairly rare sight at Sunset with only a handful of detections last season.

Purple Martin

Brown Pelican

Monarch

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Conditions shift tomorrow with a stronger southeast wind, which likely will stall out all but the most persistent early season migrants. Still, there’s no telling what a morning at Sunset could hold, and it’s possible some diurnal forward migrants like swallows will still attempt movement.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update here on the CVWO blog!

And follow along live every morning on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260801

CVWO Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count returning August 1st!

Though it may still feel like we are deep in the heat of summer, birds are showing that fall is just around the corner! On Virginia's Eastern Shore, the skies are already beginning to fill with early season migratory birds.

CVWO is hot on the heels of these early migrants with Baxter Beamer returning for the second season of the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count on August 1st, accompanied by daily Eastern Shore Migration Updates on the CVWO Blog and social media! The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch will also be back in action in a few short weeks with Sage Church and Audrey Anderson returning at the end of August!

In just the last week, sightings on the Eastern Shore include shorebirds like Hudsonian Whimbrel and Pectoral Sandpiper pouring through en masse from arctic breeding grounds, Black Terns dropping in with a stalled cold front, and Mississippi Kites staging for their imminent migration. As always on the Shore, surprises are in store like this second year Arctic Tern at the Chincoteague NWR Beach!

Hudsonian Whimbrel, Wachapreague Marshes, 24 July

Pectoral Sandpiper, Chincoteague NWR, 25 July

Mississippi Kite, Frogstool Road, 24 July

Black Tern, Chincoteague NWR, 22 July

Arctic Tern, Chincoteague NWR, 23 July

Stay tuned for more in just a few days, and come visit our counters once the season is underway!

And get ready for live migration updates on Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/site/info/3748

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 12-13, 2025

West winds continued the past two days with west southwest yesterday and west northwest winds today. Diminished westerly winds today allowed for more migration to take place, and both our counts saw more birds moving today than the past couple days.

Wednesday was a slow day all around with strong west southwest winds and clear skies. Not much of note was moving at Sunset Beach, with 27 species and 2,139 species counted. Turkey Vultures were attempting a crossing with 171 counted southbound, but in classic fashion for the species many returned back north.  A flock of 10 Tundra Swans was counted at both our sites. The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch likewise had a slow day with 35 species and 2,093 individuals counted, though Bald Eagles were moving around with nine counted.

Today was much birdier at Sunset Beach with  42 species and 8,063 individuals counted. Tundra Swans numbers were up with 85 counted. Four Bonaparte’s Gulls were the first group of multiple individuals counted. A handful of winter woodland songbirds were counted with five Golden-crowned Kinglets and three Brown Creepers moving north across the parking lot. Finches were moving in their best numbers so far, including 106 northbound American Goldfinches.

Tundra Swans at sunrise

Brown Creeper

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was busier as well with 37 species and 4,823 individuals counted. Raptor numbers had an uptick with five Osprey being a high count for the time of year. Raptor counts were led by 12 Sharp-shinned Hawks, eight Red-shouldered Hawks, and five Northern Harriers. Two Wilson’s Snipe were an uncommon sight for the hawkwatch. Twenty Common Loons were a good count, as was 61 Eastern Bluebirds. Purple Finches also had a good showing with 38 southbound and 31 northbound.

Purple Finch

The next two days will continue the trend of lighter winds, which will hopefully allow more migrants to move south if recent trends hold true. Strong southwest winds will return by Sunday, switching to northwest by early next 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/3748/20251113

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251113

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 15, 2025

Light westerly winds and patchy high overcast skies made for nice conditions for the last official Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count of the season. A nice variety of birds were moving to close out the fall with 40 species and 16,553 individuals counted.

Highlights at Sunset Beach included a high northbound Northern Gannet up over the beach early on, an unusual flight path for this seabird. A hen Northern Pintail embedded in a line of migrating Tundra Swans was a fun sight, a flock that also included a banded swan! Scoters were moving around the bay in decent numbers, and the American Robin flight was strong with 9,542 southbound individuals counted before they started to swirl around the point. A large clock of Brown-headed Cowbirds again descended on the campground this morning, at one point overrunning the parking lot during their foraging movements. 

Tundra Swans (banded individual on left) and Northern Pintail

Brown-headed Cowbird swarm 

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a slow day for raptors, but other birds were moving in good volume and diversity with 50 species and 37,753 individuals counted. Highlights included two overland migrant Red-throated Loons and seven Bonaparte’s Gulls, the same pintail/swan grouping as seen at Sunset, 152 Eastern Bluebirds, and 25,697 American Robins.

Elsewhere around the Eastern Shore, the morning flight crew rounded out the day with some nice end-of-season finds, including two different Yellow-breasted Chats, a late and secretive lingering migrant. Two Lapland Longspurs were nice to find mixed with a large Horned Lark flock up on Old Town Neck Drive, a rare winter resident difficult to pin down in vast agricultural fields.

Yellow-breasted Chat

With the end of the first Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count season, so concludes the fall’s Eastern Shore Migration Updates. It has been this author’s joy and privilege to share the many wonders of a season of fall migration with our CVWO community each day. Just as this season has flown by, next August will be upon us before we know it, and the miracle of fall migration on the Eastern Shore will begin anew. 

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch still runs through the end of November, and we look forward to seeing what sightings the hawk crew shares!

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

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20251115

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251115

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 14, 2025

Winds were much lighter today which provided ideal migratory conditions overnight. A strong nocturnal flight yielded a very busy morning of migration with high numbers of forward migrants counted. Our counters also had an exciting opportunity to join a survey on the seaside marshes and Cobb Island. 

Sunset Beach had a very busy morning with a number of interesting highlights among 52 species and 13,611 individuals. There were several nice first-of-seasons for the count, including a Hooded Merganser early on, a Common Goldeneye sitting close off the beach, and a surprise flock of five American White Pelicans northbound out over the bay. Impressive migrant numbers included 675 Turkey Vultures streaming south in long lines.

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a very busy flight this morning with the best raptor numbers in a while including 20 Red-tailed Hawks, 17 Red-shouldered Hawks, and 14 Bald Eagles. Passerines were moving south in very strong numbers including 33,319 American Robins, 169 Purple Finches, 408 American Goldfinches, 11,306 Red-winged Blackbirds, as well as the season’s first two Evening Grosbeaks. There will hopefully be more of these irruptive finches moving into the area in the coming weeks.

Our counters joined The Nature Conservancy’s Migratory Bird Specialist Mario Balitbit for seaside shorebird surveys out of Oyster. A visit to Cobb Island was very productive with a Short-eared Owl flushed out of the dunes, numerous Ipswich Savannah Sparrows, and nice groups of Bonaparte’s Gulls, Red-throated Loons, and Surf Scoters.

Short-eared Owl

Ipswich Savannah Sparrow

Bonaparte’s Gulls

Tomorrow marks the last official day of the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch will continue through November 30th. We are excited to see what is migrating on the last day to the season with light westerly winds!

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/3748/20251114

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251114

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 10-11, 2025

A bona fide arctic blast arrived overnight on the Eastern Shore, bringing temperatures nearly 15 degrees F below average with frigid northwesterly winds off the bay. Both of our counts experienced snow flurries today before clouds cleared out as the morning went on. 

Neither of our counts had much to report yesterday with northwest winds and cloudy skies before the front arrived. A handful of the regular winter waterfowl were moving at Sunset, but the passerine flight was quite subdued. The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a trickle of hawks including four Northern Harriers.  

Today was a very different story with the blasting west winds. Though baywatching was nearly impossible at Sunset with heavy shimmer on the water, the passerine flight was very active in the early morning with 849 Yellow-rumped Warblers in low northbound flight right over the parking lot and a handful of kinglets and sparrows mixed in including a nice Lark Sparrow. The Lark hung around with a mixed sparrow flock by the parking area later in the morning.

Lark Sparrow

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was again slow, though four more Northern Harriers were logged along with a couple other raptors. Thirty Bonaparte’s Gulls were a nice first-of-season for the platform. A quick check of the Kiptopeke SP Fishing Pier revealed that the beautiful drake Harlequin Duck was back after more than a week’s absence, and it gave stunning views in the boat launch inlet.

Harlequin Duck

Cave Swallows continued their presence on the Eastern Shore at the Edward S. Brinkley nature preserve this evening, with three individuals making incredibly close passes over the pond with a couple hundred Tree Swallows and one late Barn. Continued westerly winds will likely bring more Cave Swallows to the mid-Atlantic throughout the coming week and beyond, and southwesterly winds over the next few days have the potential for more passerine flights with more surprises sprinkled in.

Cave Swallow

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/3748/20251111

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251111

Eastern Shore Migration Update: November 8-9, 2025

Southwest winds brought humid southern air to the Eastern Shore on Saturday, and the warm sunny day felt much more like a day out of the early season than November. Winds remained southwesterly overnight and low cloud cover blanketed the area in the morning keeping birds low. 

On Saturday, the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count logged 37 species and 11,190 individuals including the season’s first Orange-crowned Warbler. A significant flight of Cedar Waxwings also occurred with 1,129 southbound individuals counted. This morning was again dominated by 26,402 American Robins. The season’s first Cave Swallow was great to see amid the ongoing irruption of the species on the Eastern Shore, and four Cape May Warblers were also notable for the late date.

Orange-crowned Warbler

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a good diversity of raptors yesterday including 19 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 10 Red-tailed and seven Northern Harriers. The low misty cloud today was not the most ideal weather for raptor movement, but 24 Sharp-shinned Hawks were still moving as well as the season’s first “northern” subspecies Red-tailed Hawk. A flock of eight Long-tailed Ducks migrating overland was a very exciting sight for the Hawkwatch platform.

Today was defined by a truly staggering southbound flight of 117,358 American Robins at Kiptopeke, as wave after wave of birds poured through the sky throughout the morning and into the early afternoon with another massive evening liftoff pushing the day’s tally well past six figures. Though fewer in number overall, today marks the third day in a row the Hawkwatch has exceeded the Virginia record high count for Cedar Waxwings with an incredible 2,237 counted southbound. It will be fascinating to see where numbers of these two flocking species will peak this season as they continue to surge in volume.

This weekend’s rarity roundup event was well-attended and a handful of notable species were detected around the shore including a few more scattered Cave Swallow sightings and a nice Western Kingbird near Smith Beach, the first for the Eastern Shore this fall. The kingbird continued through today providing nice views for many birders.

Western Kingbird

A true arctic blast arrives on the Eastern Shore overnight bringing a major plunge in temperatures as well as possible rain tomorrow morning with a wind shift to the northwest. Frigid westerly winds are forecasted for Tuesday as wind chill temperatures sink into the teens. This major weather shift introduces thoughts of northern species that may move in with the front, and the aftermath of the system with continued westerly winds this week will certainly be interesting. 

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