After a night of diverse and numerous nocturnal flight calls overhead, our Sunset Beach Morning Flight crew was already looking forward to what today had in store, with a dash of anxiety given the forecast of likely all day rain. Though rain featured prominently in the first two hours of the flight, gaps in the rain opened the warbler floodgates and an excellent morning flight developed. Totals of 61 species and 2013 individuals were counted today.
A lapse in the south winds and rain combined with excellent migratory conditions across the northeast provided an ideal setup for a significant migratory push this morning. A dark and dreary morning sent the first hour’s birds low through the shrubs of west side of the parking lot, with most warblers offering only fleeting glimpses in the darkness. After more heavy rain passed and the skies began to brighten, warblers flew higher and became somewhat easier to identify, in no small part thanks to the skilled in-flight photography of visiting Virginia Tech Bird Club members. These photos revealed one of the many challenging backlit warblers to be a probable Cerulean Warbler, a very rare migrant on the Eastern Shore and very late as well.
A total of 20 warbler species were identified this morning. The bulk of the flight went to 427 Northern Parulas, followed by 257 American Redstart and 126 Cape May Warblers. Gray Catbirds also had their first big morning, with 115 counted working their way north through the shrubbery. American Kestrels were also a near-constant presence towards the second half of the count, with 119 counted. The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a very good flight after the morning’s showers including a great count of 681 American Kestrels and a diverse flight of raptors and songbirds alike. Gray Catbirds also moved in force at the hawkwatch, with 187 counted.
With this most recent significant rainfall event behind us, migration is back in action and many birds will likely continue to move over the next few days on more favorable winds. The early morning hours of tomorrow will feature northwest winds, the best wind for morning flight here in the Eastern Shore. If there are enough birds migrating up to our north, it could be another big morning. We will continue to monitor possible effects of tropical systems over the coming days as well.
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/3748/20250927
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250927
