Another night of "nighthawking" and our most successful one to date. Joan G from Forbush joined us for a while and the three of us made a nice team and counted up to 328 Nighthawks before 7:15 this evening. There could have been more but we were conservative due to the fear of double counting. We actually had a kettle of 103 going Northeast and then 30 minutes or so later we had a kettle of 107 going South from that same direction so we assumed they were the same flock we saw feeding before and were now migrating. There were so many that it was overwhelming at times to count which was awesome. This will most likely be our best night of the whole season as the numbers will start to decline and after tomorrow I will not be able to get out there and nighthawk until Monday when I would expect lower numbers because it's getting later into September. Seriously, one of the most notable birding events of the summer and something I wish would last a little longer but such is life. Such fascinating birds to watch!
Another interesting observation is the lack of Chimney Swifts I have heard in recent days. The last time I saw them was at 6:50 on Saturday evening as I was baking (yes, I remembered it exactly because I looked at the clock and made note because the rain had stopped and I was happy to see the swifts could get out for a quick meal before bed, geek I know). Anyhow, since then I have not seen them which is pretty interesting considering they were out in full force last week when were were nighthawking and not seeing nighthawks, now we are seeing nighthawks and not seeing Chimney Swifts. Perhaps they are migrating???? Sigh, I will miss them for sure. One of my favorite sounds of the summer and always look forward to hearing them come late May.
Take care everyone
1 comment:
Your notes were really interesting, and as vivid as a photo!
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