Northeast winds and heavy overcast skies with the arriving cold front made for an active day of migration on the Eastern Shore. Warblers were moving in fair numbers with an uptick in diversity, and raptors and waterfowl showed strongly as well. Totals of 52 species and 537 individuals were counted at Sunset Beach.
Despite the northeast winds, the flight path for the majority of reorienting migrants was directly overhead, allowing for closer studies of warblers than is typical for days with this wind setup. A significant proportion of the flight consisted of more Appalachian type migrant warblers, including 39 Cape May, six Black-throated Green, four Tennessee, and singles of Chestnut-sided and Blackburnian Warbler. Other passerine diversity was fairly lacking, but two Eastern Wood-Pewees and an eastern Phoebe coming in off the bay were also counted.
Waterfowl had their best day yet with good diversity and numbers. Northern Pintail were the most numerous duck counted with several small flocks amounting to 61 in total. Blue-winged Teal tallied 25, and small numbers of American Wigeon mixed with pintail added up to 10. Two Lesser Scaup were also counted, on the earlier side for this diving duck. Sterna terns were on the move out over the bay consisting of 48 Forster’s and 43 Common, a good count for the latter species at this date. Raptors were consistently streaming over low under the clouds, highlighted by good counts of 61 American Kestrel and 14 Northern Harriers.
Raptor activity remained steady for most of the day at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch. Good totals of 287 American Kestrel, 214 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 119 Merlin, and 107 Cooper’s Hawk were obtained. Non raptors were also exciting with a clear highlight being a high flock of 16 American Golden-Plovers southbound out towards the bay. Fifty-six Great Blue Herons was a good count, as were the 90 Northern Pintail with 15 American Wigeon mixed in. Two Common Nighthawks passed over in the late afternoon, fairly late in the season for this species.
Tomorrow has interesting potential with a strong migrant liftoff tonight and chances of rain throughout the night into tomorrow. If rain holds off, it could be a good day at both Sunset Beach and the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch.
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/3748/20261003
