The slower pace continued at Sunset Beach this morning with a steady 10 mph west wind in off the bay and another oppressively cloudy morning that thankfully begun to clear towards the end. Conditions have also been muggy, with above 90% humidity for the second day in a row and 78 degrees Fahrenheit before sunrise. The flight today featured slightly lower numbers and diversity than yesterday, with 20 species and 267 individuals counted.
Swallows had a decent day once the skies cleared a bit, with 82 Purple Martins and 58 Barn Swallows counted. Interestingly, more martins were northbound and more Barn Swallows were southbound. Eastern Kingbirds had their strongest showing so far, with a total of 43 predominately southbound individuals counted. This species is a diurnal migrant, and we expect to see a higher proportion of these individuals moving south in forward migration as opposed to nocturnal migrants which typically show northbound reverse migration in morning flight.
Other highlights included the season's first Peregrine Falcon, spotted distantly to the south as it cruised towards the tip of the peninsula with a prey item in its clutches. Another Whimbrel was spotted high overhead early on, and departed off to the southwest out over the Chesapeake Bay. With the exception of the aforementioned aerial insectivores, the songbird flight was negligible aside from a minor uptick in American Robin numbers, with 28 counted.
A weak cold front arrives overnight along with associated rainfall which will likely put a stop to most overnight migration. However, the northeast winds following the cold front over the weekend have the possibility to be interesting, and the passage of the last cold front two weeks ago yielded some interesting movements on northeast winds. Eastern Kingbirds should continue to increase in numbers, and the arrival of other numerous early-season species like Bobolink is anticipated.
Keep up with the ever-changing migratory conditions right here on the CVWO Blog with tomorrow's daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and be sure to check out our Trektellen page for real-time updates every morning of the fall: https://trektellen.nl/site/info/3748
