Light
winds shifting northwest overnight brought a somewhat more active day of
migration to the Eastern Shore. The Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count logged
totals of 61 species and 2388 individuals.
Warblers
had a decent showing for the date, likely owing to the southwest-northwest
switch overnight. Two Cape May, one Northern Parula, five Blackpoll, 13 Palm,
one Pine, and a slightly late Black-throated Green Warbler were counted
alongside 526 of their Yellow-rumped Warbler cousins, the majority of which
were northbound. Two northbound Red-breasted Nuthatches continued their consistent
trickle of a movement.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pine Siskins
A
fleeting glimpse was caught of a northbound hummingbird that was likely a Ruby-throated,
though by this date rarer options are increasingly likely. Waterfowl were
moving in solid numbers out over the Chesapeake Bay including 56 Northern
Pintail, a White-winged Scoter, and the season’s first two Bufflehead. Many
ducks were frustratingly distant in the shimmer making identification
impossible.
Things
picked up a bit at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch after winds shifted to the northeast
in the afternoon, and 77 raptors were counted today. Accipitrines made up a
good chunk of the flight, with 24 Sharp-shinned and 20 Cooper’s Hawks counted. Southbound
passerine migrants were moving in good numbers including 593 Blue Jays, 368
Fish Crows, 1109 American Robins, 306 Pine Siskins, 391 Red-winged Blackbirds,
and 981 Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Fish Crows
Northeast winds continue overnight and through
tomorrow, and hopefully there will be some more good movement of diurnal
migrants tomorrow.
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/3748/20261027
