Morning flight today was moderate in volume be and fairly diverse. Songbirds had a better morning including 87 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 17 Northern Parulas, and 32 Gray Catbirds. An Eastern Meadowlark and two American Pipits were also nice to see as they moved north. The season’s first Northern Gannet southbound over the bay, and six Black Scoters were moving north close in. Great Blue Herons were moving south in small flocks all morning tallying 64.
In the fourth hour a pink imposter was spotted in a flock of eight very distant Great Blue Herons— a Roseate Spoonbill! This is the third Northampton County record of Roseate Spoonbill, with the last record being a flyover bird at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch two years ago to the day, also in with eight Great Blue Herons! Sometimes birds really do seem to appear like clockwork, though these were almost certainly different individuals.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch was much busier today with clearer skies and north winds. A total of 329 raptors were counted, mostly Accipitrine hawks with a few more falcons moving in the afternoon. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon made some especially nice passes in the afternoon, and a couple Nashville Warblers kept counters company throughout the day.
The cold front arriving tonight seems primed to bring a significant arrival of migrants overnight along with chilly temperatures tomorrow. The following night will also have favorable migrations. Winds shift around to the southwest through the weekend before another shot of north winds arrives 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/3748/20251015
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251015
