Strong north-northeast winds following the passage of the major cold front were excellent conditions for nocturnal and diurnal migrants alike on the Eastern Shore, and both of our counts had exciting flights with skies full of migrants and a few surprises. Totals of 79 species and 3052 individuals were counted.
The day's major excitement came at 9:22 am when hawk counter Sage Church made the call that a Swainson’s Hawk had just passed the hawkwatch moving south, and just six minutes later it appeared out to the east of Sunset Beach! This light juvenile individual was later seen moving back north towards the end of the count. The Swainson’s made no fewer than four passes at the hawkwatch today including an excellent view moving back north at 3:30 pm, suggesting this bird could still be around tomorrow.
Waterbirds had a strong at Sunset Beach showing including three first-of-seasons for the count; seven Brant, eleven Northern Shovelers, and one American Wigeon. Double-crested Cormorants were streaming by in flocks throughout the morning totaling 291. Shorebirds displayed some nice late season diversity including three Black-bellied Plovers, two Greater and one Lesser Yellowlegs and 43 Dunlin, a good count for this site.
Landbird diversity was also excellent, including both a Yellow-billed and a sneaky Black-billed Cuckoo moving north. A steady northbound stream of Yellow-rumped Warblers totaled 809, with a few other typical late-season warblers mixed in. A few large flocks of House Finches out to the east totaled 192. Other passerine diversity included 45 Fish Crows, an American Pipit, two Eastern Meadowlarks, two Pine Siskins, and seven first-of-season Rusty Blackbirds.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch saw an amazing flight for mid-October of 1039 raptors, an impressive total well past peak migration for the site. This flight was heavily dominated by Accipitrines with Sharp-shinned Hawks taking a commanding lead of 511, many of which moved through in the early hours of the morning, and Cooper’s Hawks had their best day of the season with 328 counted, ranking in the top five flights of this species in the history of the hawkwatch.
Strong northeast winds continue tonight, and many of today’s arrivals will be able to depart. Morning flight will probably be a bit slower tomorrow, though it could be another good day at the hawkwatch with the continuing northerlies. The rest of the week's forecast will depend heavily on the track of an offshore low pressure system moving towards the Carolinas.
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/3748/20261018
