Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 20, 2025

Today’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count again featured light westerly winds and clear skies. A weak cold front moving across the northeast and into the mid-Atlantic overnight provided excellent conditions for migration to our north, and very light westerly winds locally on the Eastern Shore through the morning kept birds closer to the bayshore. Diversity and total numbers were high, with 67 species and 2116 individual migrants counted.

The first hour once again saw a very impressive push of warblers, with wave after wave passing over the parking lot with many offering good views. Diversity matched yesterday with 18 species of warbler including the season’s first Blackpoll Warbler and a nice Blue-winged, whose migratory season is coming to a close. American Redstarts and Northern Parula numbers were competing all morning, with redstarts having a stronger start and parulas catching up later. Remarkably, the sum of our hourly clicker numbers ended in a tie, with 527 of each of these numerous two species clicked throughout the morning. 

Blue-winged Warbler

Sharp-shinned Hawks were on the go well before sunrise, and the impressive lift off led into a nice flight of 229 sharpies, dutifully tallied by volunteer counter Carson Lambert. One of the 16 Merlins counted snatched up an American Redstart, reminding us of the many perils songbirds face on their fall migration. Clearly, the Merlin was doing its part to help team parula this morning.

Merlin with American Redstart prey

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had yet another great day, with a nice low afternoon and evening flight overhead following a wind switch to the northeast in the afternoon. Most species had notably high counts including 409 Osprey, 914 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 69 Northern Harriers, 357 Broad-winged Hawk, 441 American Kestrel, 194 Merlin, and 28 Peregrine Falcon. Two more Mississippi Kites hung around the platform airspace off and on throughout the afternoon and evening as well.

East-northeast winds overnight will allow many migrants to depart the shore and may keep migration tonight more inland making for a smaller morning flight tomorrow. Winds are forecasted to pick back up and switch to the northeast again by the afternoon, so there should be plenty more raptors yet to come!

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250920

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250920

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 19, 2025

 Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 19, 2025

Today’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count featured light west-southwest winds and clear skies. The winds coming in from inland areas and the clear conditions following several days of rain and south winds provided ideal migratory conditions overnight, and an impressive flight in terms of both diversity and volume. A total of 64 species and 1552 individuals were counted.

Shortly after sunrise the sky came alive with American Redstarts, which moved in great numbers for the first two hours as the slowly trailed off throughout the morning leading to the season high count of 684. Northern Parulas also had a great day with 206, and Palm came in third with 51. Warbler diversity was great overall with 18 species and several uncommon migrants including a late Prothonotary and two Nashvilles and three Tennessee. The season’s first Philadelphia Vireo was also picked by middle management, and two Ruby-crowned Kinglets were also firsts for the season.

Black-and-white Warbler

Raptors ended up making a very strong showing towards the end of the count, with 34 Osprey, 92 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 19 Broad-winged Hawks and 42 American Kestrels as notable standouts. The open sky out to the east provides an ideal vantage point to see what is flying out over the refuge, and early morning raptor totals at Sunset often eclipse what is visible from the hawkwatch early on in the day.

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a fantastic day despite the high blue skies and light westerly winds with staggering numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks in particular. Sharp-shinned Hawks led the pack by far with an impressive 1507. American Kestrels had a great day as well with 448, and Merlins put in a good showing with 82. An even flow of birds throughout the day contributed to the significant total. Three Mississippi Kites were also a nice addition, fairly late for this early migrant.

Merlin

Common Nighthawk

Favorable migratory conditions over the northeast led to a significant liftoff indicated by radar. With light southwest winds shifting around to west by early morning locally on the Eastern Shore, the conditions could be favorable for another very nice morning flight. 

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250919

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250919

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 18, 2025

Today’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count featured light west northwest winds and heavy overcast skies with some periods of mist. Though again slow overall, there was clearly more overnight migration and generally more on the move than yesterday, with 37 species and 225 individuals were counted.

Though numbers were very low without a significant overnight push, there was a little bit of diversity including the season’s first Nashville Warbler which dropped into the pines and offered some decent views. Cape May Warblers continue to trickle through including one brighter male that made a low pass.

Cape May (Charles) Warbler

Six Common Nighthawks were nice to see northbound mid-morning, generally uncommon on the Shore and on the trailing end of their window of occurrence. Merlins were once again on the move with 13 counted moving south, including two out over the bay. A Dickcissel was heard giving its distinctive flight call several times as it circled and moved north over the count site. 

The light west-northwest and mist made for a more moderate day at the hawkwatch overall, though perhaps more seasonable for the date compared to the huge early movements over the weekend. Nice totals of 68 Osprey and 44 Sharp-shinned Hawk were still tallied, as well as 35 American Kestrels and 20 Merlins. The Hawkwatch crew also nabbed a flyover Dickcissel later on the afternoon.

The coming days see a warm up and returning sunshine. West winds shifting around to south tonight will likely slow down overnight migration, though a weak cold front moving over the northeast Friday night may bring a wave of migrants that reaches us. Winds then switch back to northeast for the rest of the weekend, which should bring us some more good raptor migration.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages for live updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250918

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250918

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 17, 2025

After taking a rain day yesterday, it was great to back resume counting at both of our migration counts today! There was little overnight migration with lots of heavy rain still moving through the area combined with steady southwest winds, and a little drizzle was still coming down early this morning during the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. It was an overall slow morning with 27 species and 158 individuals counted.

Merlins were one of the only species that had a good morning, with a couple marauding around the count site early on and a total of 16 counted in southbound migration, most zipping by just overhead. Some stopped briefly to take swipes at flying songbirds, but none appeared successful. 

Merlin 

Other migrant birds were very slow this morning, though a couple shorebirds were on the move including a flock of five Black-bellied Plovers out over the bay. It was nice to see the season’s first Common Loon moving south not too far out as well.

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch also had a slow day without favorable winds for raptor migration. Merlins were also one of the most numerous migrant species there, with 15 counted alongside 17 Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Conditions clear tomorrow and winds will fall out and slowly switch to northerly aspects, which should be much better for migration over the next few days. A weak cold front comes in from the north over the weekend which should bring another batch of migrants down.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250917

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch:

https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250917

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 15, 2025

Strong winds out of the northeast and drizzly conditions made for an interesting morning at the Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. A total of 37 species and 2224 individuals were counted.

There were more birds moving last night and a few warblers were on the move in northbound morning flight. For the first time so far this season, Northern Parulas were the most numerous species of warbler with 79 counted. A Tennessee Warbler was also nice to see, a fairly uncommon species on the Eastern Shore generally.

Rain over the bay appeared to be influencing northbound migration of typically diurnal forward migrants. A significant northbound movement of American Kestrels took place, with 27 out of 32 individuals counted moving north past the count area. Other species of raptor were southbound by contrast, with four Osprey, nine Sharp-shinned Hawks, Northern Harrier, and five Merlins counted moving south. Tree Swallows have arrived to the Eastern Shore en masse, and 203 southbound and 1592 northbound birds were counted. 

American Kestrel

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a decent morning before rain eventually crept in and ended the count for the rest of the day. Nice tallies of 55 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 16 Northern Harriers, 61 American Kestrels and 44 Merlins were counted before the end of the count at 2:30 pm. Tree Swallows were also out in force with 1052 southbound and 300 northbound birds counted.

Tomorrow is looking like the first day both of our counts will be entirely rained out due to steady rain forecasted the entire day accompanied by howling northeasterlies with gusts approaching 50 mph. The otherwise miserable conditions seem favorable for grounding migrants such as shorebirds, and our crew will certainly be taking to the fields tomorrow look for anything knocked down by the weather system. Wednesday is looking wet but much less intense, and we should be back to counting by then.

Keep up with both of CVWO’s counts right here on the blog with our daily Eastern Shore Migration Update, and follow along live every morning on our Trektellen pages:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250915

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250915

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 14th, 2025

Cloudy skies and light northeast winds were the conditions for this morning’s Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count. Not much was moving overnight and the morning was fairly slow overall, but we still had some good diversity and tallied 40 species and 242 individuals.

The passerine flight today was certainly more of a trickle than a flood, though highlights included the season’s second Scarlet Tanager and nine warbler species. A few raptors were moving including eight Sharp-shinned Hawks and a nice American Kestrel that touched down in the snags by the count area for a short time.

American Kestrel

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch continued its spree today with even more raptors than the previous two days, including 254 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 181 American Kestrels. The flight was nice and varied through the day with birds coming in from various parts of the sky and some fairly low down offering great views from the platform, and overcast skies provided a great backdrop for scanning for distant birds.

Interesting changes in the weather are coming over the next few days, namely a tropical low pressure system that will bring much needed and significant rainfall Monday night through early Wednesday. Northeast winds continue to intensify tonight, and a decent number of migrants should be able to move in tonight and tomorrow. Rainfall moving up from the south Monday night and lasting over 24 hours could be an interesting setup for knocking down migrating birds on the peninsula including shorebirds and other long-distance migrants. 

Following the wet weather, winds are forecasted to switch around to the northwest and west by Thursday and Friday, likely allowing migration to resume. Hopefully we will see some significant migration leading into the weekend, though it will be just as interesting to see what drops in with the rainfall over the next few days.

Keep up with the happenings on the Eastern Shore here on the CVWO Blog, and make sure to check out our live Trektellen pages for real-time updates for our two counts:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count:

https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250913

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch:

https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250913

 

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 13, 2025

Today’s sunset beach morning flight count featured clam winds and sunny skies and a light migratory flight. A total of 47 species and 340 individuals were counted.

Northbound reorienting migrants started out to the east as is typical, but the flight shifted west as the morning went on and a steady trickle of birds came by in nice lighting throughout the early morning. Highlights included the season’s first Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the season’s second Bay-breasted Warbler, and a surprise White-rumped Sandpiper that flew off the beach with three Least Sandpipers.

Lighter flight days are generally a little more laid back and enjoyable for actually enjoying good views and taking photos of birds in flight. Today was a great day to kick back and take a moment to the flybys without having to stress about clicking warblers all over the sky.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Northern Flicker

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had another fantastic early season flight, with even more impressive numbers than yesterday. With the clam winds and blue sky, many birds were way up and hard to spot. Despite the speck birds, impressive totals of 206 Sharp-shinned, 56 Cooper’s Hawks, 204 American Kestrels and 85 Merlins were counted.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

The strong trend of northeast winds continue for the next few days, and clouds roll in tomorrow with chances of rain early next week. The favorable winds combined with cloud cover and arriving rain could create a similar setup to this week’s fallout-like conditions with many migrants concentrated and grounded at the tip of the peninsula. Migration will likely slow down before the next front comes in. Every day has the possibility to be very different and interesting, and we’ll see what the changing conditions bring down the shore!

Keep up with the happenings on the Eastern Shore here on the CVWO Blog, and make sure to check out our live Trektellen pages for real-time updates for our two counts:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count:

https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250913

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch:

https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250913

Eastern Shore Migration Update: September 12, 2025

Clear conditions overnight with light northeast winds following a couple days of drizzle provided ideal conditions for overnight migration. A large liftoff last night over northeast states led a significant arrival of overnight migrants on the shore, and a nice diversity of species were moving this morning in decent volume. A total of 58 species and 1033 individuals were counted in active migration.

Songbirds were taxonomically diverse, and warblers had a strong showing with 15 species counted. Though many birds were lost to backlighting out in the eastern sky early morning, the flight gradually shifted west and many warblers appeared in nice lighting as the morning wore on. A big surprise was a close northbound Louisiana Waterthrush, notably late for this rare and very early season migrant on the Eastern Shore. Visiting photographer Max Nootbaar secured excellent flight shots of the bird. Notably, another Louisiana Waterthrush was found down “across the pond” at Back Bay in Virginia Beach today, suggesting more of these stream-side denizens were on the move today.

Louisiana Waterthrush

Other passerines were on the move including the first decent thrush flight of the fall, with 8 Veery and 9 Swainson’s Thrush counted. Irrupting Red-breasted Nuthatches also turned up with a solid dozen northbound individuals counted, hopefully hinting of more on the way. 

Northern Flicker

The Kiptopeke Hawkwatch had a truly banner mid-September day with over 500 raptors counted, including very notable early season appearances of multiple species. The raptor floodgates were wide open all day, with seasonally remarkable tallies of 94 Sharp-shinned, 34 Cooper’s, 24 Northern Harrier, 244 American Kestrel, and 90 Merlin counted. Birds were ripping over all across the sky, and impressive scenes including seven falcons in one binocular field delighted counters and guests alike. A late Mississippi Kite added further diversity to the abundance of raptor migrants. Not to be totally overshadowed by the raptors, swallows also kept counters busy with 596 Tree and 247 Barn Swallows tallied.

Merlin by Will Burgoyne

Continued northeast winds in the coming days will hopefully continue running up the raptor scoreboard. Songbird migrants are likely to trail off slightly without a significant front or northwesterly wind in the forecast, but arrivals should continue to steadily stream in as we approach the celebrated peak warbler diversity in late September.

Keep up with the action right here on the CVWO Blog, and be sure to catch our counts live every day on Trektellen for real-time migration updates:

Sunset Beach Morning Flight Count: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/3748/20250912

Kiptopeke Hawkwatch: https://trektellen.nl/count/view/4022/20250912