Light northeast winds brought Sunset Beach to life this morning under overcast skies following a significant overnight migration flight and localized downpours in the area. The low cloud cover and local precipitation gave way to a diverse morning highlighted by an impressive shorebird flight. Totals of 57 species and 1673 individuals counted.
The morning was off to a promising start when Mario called
out a Clapper Rail dropping out of the sky, which landed nearly at our feet at
the edge of the parking lot before dashing quickly into cover in the shrub
line! This is a first for the count, and a reminder that these marsh birds are
highly migratory. There was a phenomenal flight of shorebirds today including
flocks totaling 117 Short-billed Dowitchers and 124 dowitcher sp. pouring south
as well as five Long-billed Dowitchers moving north, a first for the count
site! Other shorebirds included six Solitary Sandpipers, three Black-bellied
Plovers, two Hudsonian Whimbrels, and the season’s first two White-rumped
Sandpipers.
Other migrants were not overshadowed by the shorebirds. There
was a fair bit of reorientation flight highlighted by the season’s high of four
Louisiana Waterthrushes. One Northern Waterthrush, 22 American Redstarts, six
Black-and-white, three American Yellow, and one Pine Warbler were also counted.
A northbound Willow Flycatcher moving up the shrub line was carefully
scrutinized, a scarce migrant on the Eastern Shore. The forward migrant
composition today was very different with a mere four Purple Martins counted,
and Red-winged Blackbirds took the lead with 732. Other miscellaneous
highlights included107 White Ibis, a Northern Harrier, a Bank Swallow, and 110
Eastern Kingbirds.
Easterlies tonight will allow more migrants from the
interior to correct course and move back inland, though as any day with
significant overnight migration, the potential exists for an interesting
morning of movement, even on tomorrow’s forecasted southeast winds.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s daily migration update on CVWO
social media and the CVWO blog: https://vawildliferesearch.org/cvwo-blog
And follow along with the count live every morning on
Trektellen: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20260815
