Winds switched around to the east overnight allowing for a strong liftoff of migrants that had arrived with the front the previous day. Without strongly favorable migratory conditions to the north, nocturnal migration was low by the time the sun came up. While numbers and diversity of reorienting migrants was low, forward migrants carried the morning, and 40 species and 5223 individuals were counted.
With the low overnight migration and strong east winds, a more leisurely flight with adequate time to scrutinize the bay was anticipated, though this was not the case thanks to two abundant forward migrants. A steady stream of Tree Swallows and Yellow-rumped Warblers started up after sunrise and continued throughout the duration of the count. Totals of 2804 Tree Swallows and 1689 Yellow-rumped Warblers were clicked moving south, making for a very busy morning of counting. The season's first Dark-eyed Junco was nice to see too.
Though migration was fairly slow outside of the swallow and Yellow-rumped onslaught, there were still some nice highlights including the season's first (and location's first) American Golden-Plover, which flew fairly low overhead calling early on. Singles of Eastern Wood-Pewee, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Waterthrush, and Scarlet Tanager were nice reminders that winter hasn't truly set in yet.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a somewhat slower day for raptors, though a trickle of low Accipitrines and falcons kept things lively. A low circling Common Loon was a highlight, a species we look forward to seeing many more of soon. The two aforementioned forward migrants likewise were moving south in high numbers as well, with totals of 3922 Tree Swallows and 711 Yellow-rumped Warblers southbound.
More mention of insect migration is quite warranted, as Kiptopeke State Park is positively aflutter with Monarchs following the cold front. Dozens of these showy butterflies have descended on the goldenrod patches around the hawkwatch alongside clouds of Common Buckeyes, a couple Painted Ladies, and one Gulf Fritillary. Over 100 Monarchs were tagged today, with the highest concentrations occurring along the beach.
A strong nor'easter is poised to affect the coast starting tomorrow night with steady to heavy rain anticipated Sunday, likely making for rain days for both of our counts. Winds switch around to the north and northwest for the duration of next week, which should resume migration in force and continue bringing in arrivals as well as accelerating departures of lingering migrants.
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/3748/20251010
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251010
