Lighter north-northwest winds brought another active morning to Sunset Beach, where totals of 60 species and 2129 individuals were counted.
Flight dynamics remained similar to previous days overall, with most morning flight occurring close to or over the main counting area at the parking lot. Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to dominate totaling 628, the lowest total recorded over the past couple of days. Blackpolls accounted for most of the other warbler diversity totaling 8. Other passerine diversity was strong out of the gate in the first hour likely owing to the slight westerly element to the winds, including a majority of the day’s 23 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 11 Brown Creepers.
Primarily northbound finch movement continued including 71 House Finches and 40 Pine Siskins. Fish Crows were moving south in impressive large flocks that added up to 239, and Blue Jays were streaming by as well totaling 150 southbound and 70 northbound. Waterbird movement was largely limited to 118 Black Scoters and 94 Double-crested Cormorants, though 74 Brown Pelicans moving steadily south in small grounds indicated they were on the move today as well.
Things were slow again at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch, where 29 raptors were counted. Passerine numbers at the platform were strong however, and 171 Pine Siskins were counted, mostly in the morning hours. Purple Finches hit double digits for the first time this season with 11. Corvid numbers were strong at the hawkwatch as well, represented by 256 Blue Jays and 222 Fish Crows.
Steady north winds continuing overnight will gradually give way to northeasterlies by the afternoon. Though radar indicates there is lighter nocturnal migration, tomorrow morning will likely remain fairly birdy, more or less comparable to today.
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/3748/20261022
