The cold front provided an incredible diversity of migrants on this crisp and clear October day, and the northerlies made for a high and challenging but fun raptor flight with a standout rarity. Totals of 91 species and 2506 individuals were counted at Sunset Beach.
This was a record-setting morning in terms of overall diversity at Sunset Beach with 91 species of migrants and a total of 100 species of birds including residents in five hours of counting! A little bit of just about everything was moving this morning. There were a handful of first-of-seasons for the count including two Ring-necked Ducks, seven Dunlin, five Golden-crowned Kinglets, one each of Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Song and Swamp Sparrow, two White-throated Sparrows, and four Dark-eyed Juncos. Seeing these winter arrivals alongside early season migrants like Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Northern Yellow Warbler emphasizes just how diverse early October is on the Eastern Shore.
While no species was present in extraordinarily high numbers, several birds still had good flights including the first notable push of Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 12 southbound and 25 northbound of which were counted interspersed with a nice flight of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, totaling eight south and 25 north. Modest Blue Jay numbers continued with 245 mostly southbound. Northern Parulas continue to be the most numerous warbler with 108, closely trailed by 78 Yellow-rumped Warblers.
The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a very active day with a great flight of 1030 total raptors. For most of the day starting predawn the flight was punishingly high, and oftentimes raptors would simply materialize as specks into view while scanning the blue. American Kestrels totaled 349, and Sharp-shinned Hawks also showed strongly with 274. Cooper's Hawks were also numerous totaling 157. The major highlight came towards the end of the day at 5:15 when a dark immature Swainson’s Hawk was spotted high to the northwest of the platform! The Swainson’s circled for several minutes giving great views to all before setting its wings and tracking high to the south. Notably, Cape May Bird Observatory Hawkwatch recorded two Swainson’s Hawks today including one dark immature, so this could plausibly be the first of their two birds continuing on its way some 134 miles south and 6.5 hours later.
Light easterly winds tomorrow shifting southeast will probably make for a slower morning flight, though the conditions could still be good for a nice movement of raptors.
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/3748/20261006
