East winds were blowing in advance of the arriving nor’easter under heavy overcast skies today on the lower Eastern Shore. Migratory movement was moderate overall, though there were some standout highlights. Totals of 24 species and 177 individuals were counted at Sunset Beach.
While there was essentially no morning flight today at Sunset Beach, the Chesapeake Bay provided some quality action. The clear highlight was a southbound juvenile Sabine’s Gull that passed just off the beach at the end of the second hour giving incredible looks and photo ops in the brief moment it was in view! Sabine’s are a very rare offshore migrant that are not recorded annually in Virginia, and this individual was likely brought into the bay ahead of the building nor’easter.
Other highlights in the bay included
a southbound Parasitic Jaeger, six Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and singles of Northern
Harrier and American Kestrel. Landbird migrants were slower overall, though two
Eastern Kingbirds and four late Purple Martins were nice to see. There was no appreciable
morning flight, though two northbound American Redstarts and a southbound Palm
Warbler put in appearances.
Strong northeast winds will build tomorrow with increased chances of rain in the first half of the day. We may see a weather cancellation depending on the intensity of the rain, though oftentimes conditions are drier than forecasted on the Eastern Shore and we hope to be out there counting in the morning!
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/3748/20260922
