The strong north winds and overcast skies made for less-than-ideal conditions for observing morning flight, but a food migration flight last night at least brought some volume down to the lower shore. Totals of 50 species and 1295 individuals were counted.
Though there was a solid morning flight this morning, poor lighting in the early morning coupled with the strong winds forcing birds to cross the clearing low and fast made for difficult viewing, and many warblers went unidentified early on. Nonetheless, good totals of 221 American Redstart, 125 Northern Parula, and 47 Palm Warblers were counted, as well as the season’s first substantial push of 26 Common Yellowthroats and 88 Northern Flickers. Clearly storm-driven birds were less apparent this morning, though a high southbound Black Tern over land early on was a clear sign of the bad weather.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a good flight today with the first push of Sharp-shinned Hawks totaling 95, 89 American Kestrels, and 22 Merlins. A few other migrants moved by in good numbers too, including 200 mostly northbound Northern Flickers, 70 Gray Catbirds, and 11 brown Thrashers. Two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks wee good to see, and the continuing Mississippi Kite made an appearance after its first absence yesterday.
Tomorrow is the annual Coastal Virginia Birdathon Fundraiser, where teams of birders descend on the coast for some friendly competition to try to see as many birds as they can. Our morning flight team will be represented by team Morning Warblers! The hawkwatch crew will be on team Counting Crows. Donate to both of our teams here: https://vawildliferesearch.org/coastal-va-birdathon
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/3748/20260925
