Winds were out of the northwest today coming in strong off the bay. A good number of migrants were moving initially before winds whipped up which killed the flight before calming down later morning.
The flight at Sunset Beach was much more moderate and manageable than yesterday’s chaos. It was still a birdy day with totals of 39 species and 7107 individuals counted. American Robins again comprised the bulk of the flight with 2,863 northbound individuals mostly out to the east and 982 southbound including many sky-high flocks overhead. A northbound Baltimore Oriole was the first one seen in some time. Baywatching was productive with a few regulars moving around in the high winds as well as the season’s second sighting of Brown Booby, an immature bird northbound with a juvenile Northern Gannet for easy comparison.
It was a slower day at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch with the northwest winds, but a few raptors were still moving earlier on the day. Twelve Cooper’s Hawks were the most numerous species, followed by nine of each Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed. American Robins had a strong southbound movement with 13,841 counted, with 8,435 of which being in the hour before sunrise.
Winds are calm overnight slowly increasing to south through tomorrow. Cave Swallows have built up in numbers to our north, and it’s likely only a matter of time before some make their way down to the Eastern Shore! Continued westerlies in the forecast will likely keep bringing more of this species into the area.
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/3748/20251104
Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20251104
