[Maine-birds] Re: Common Nighthawks

Hi Brendan,

This year, I have been nighthawk-less here in my yard in Unity where I often watch in late afternoons and evenings.

I did see two large groups totaling 110 moving through the Hudson Valley last week.  I was also surprised at their direct flight.  Both groups did not mess around and just booked it away from us.  This may not be that unusual.  In my yard when I get lucky, they often pause to feed on flying ant hatches so linger while feeding.

Good birding,

tom

On Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 9:48:39 PM UTC-4 thank....@gmail.com wrote:

Hello everyone, I want to talk Common Nighthawks with those who are interested. First, I love all aspects of migration. I focus on arrival and departure dates for many local species but there are a few that get me really excited and Common Nighthawks are one of them. Every year mid to late August I anticipate seeing groups of these birds migrating over my yard in Portland on warm evenings when there are few or no clouds in the sky. Normally I have several sightings by September but this year I didn't see any in August despite my efforts to scan the skies each promising evening. Tonight I counted 44 pass over my house a little after 6:30pm. First I spotted a single bird flying low with typical buoyant flight. Normally when there is one, there are more so I started to scan the sky and quickly spotted a large group of birds flying high towards the SW. My immediate impression was not that of Common Nighthawk: this group was fairly tight in formation, was flying steadily and directly and my quick thought was that it was a group of American Robins. These however turned out to be a group of 43 Common Nighthawks. They changed direction as a group and flew over my house towards the East. I've never seen this species fly so directly and persistently, without glides or other acrobatics. Has anyone else seen this species migrate this way?

There were thunderstorms to the North, so maybe they were flying more deliberately to get out of the path of the storms? 

Additionally, has anyone else found that they missed seeing Common Nighthawks at the normal time this year?

Looking at eBird graphs, this species has moved through earlier in August the last two years with fewer sightings. The orange line bellow is 2022.

For those of you who made it to the end, thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Brendan

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