After taking a rain day yesterday, it was great to back resume counting at both of our migration counts today! There was little overnight migration with lots of heavy rain still moving through the area combined with steady southwest winds, and a little drizzle was still coming down early this morning during the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. It was an overall slow morning with 27 species and 158 individuals counted.
Merlins were one of the only species that had a good morning, with a couple marauding around the count site early on and a total of 16 counted in southbound migration, most zipping by just overhead. Some stopped briefly to take swipes at flying songbirds, but none appeared successful.
Other migrant birds were very slow this morning, though a couple shorebirds were on the move including a flock of five Black-bellied Plovers out over the bay. It was nice to see the season’s first Common Loon moving south not too far out as well.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also had a slow day without favorable winds for raptor migration. Merlins were also one of the most numerous migrant species there, with 15 counted alongside 17 Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Conditions clear tomorrow and winds will fall out and slowly switch to northerly aspects, which should be much better for migration over the next few days. A weak cold front comes in from the north over the weekend which should bring another batch of migrants down.
Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages:
Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250917
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch:
