Thursday, September 6, 2012

Common Nighthawk Migration

For the past couple of weeks I have given supper short shrift  -  quick meals out of the freezer or whatever leftovers I could put together -  because during the second half of August supper time is when the Common Nighthawks pass through on their fall migration. Every evening for the past several years Vermont birder Don Clark of Grafton has has been observing the migration at Westminster Station near the Connecticut River, a perfect wide open location with good views in all directions.

Other birders, both local and from across the state, have been joining him in spotting and counting the passing migrants for the annual record. They fly in small flocks, starting as barely visible dots on the distant sky, then turning into tiny ciphers fading in and out of view, and then suddenly they are right overhead, flashing their white wing patches, with little time for the lens to lock onto the target. When actively feeding their flight is erratic, banking and curving, suddenly veering off into a different direction. And before you know it  the opportunity to catch a good shot has passed. I found it helps to set my camera on continuous autofocus, have a fast memory card and then fire away until the buffer is full at about 100 shots, if set on JPEG Fine, or 19 when shooting RAW.

Male Nighthawks are distinguished by a white sub-terminal tail band which is absent in females and juveniles. 
I am including these two shots, the one above and one below, because the legs are extended. They weren't coming down to land, but maybe they did so for some other maneuver that escaped me.
The birds are often flying with their huge mouth agape when hawking flying insects, but  I only caught two of them doing so.
I apologize for these blurry shots, just using them to illustrate this behavior.
Common Nighthawks are long distance migrants from continental North America, usually along river valleys and lake shores, to their wintering quarters in South America. They have been listed as critically imperiled in the New England states. In the past, migratory flocks often numbered in the 1000's. According to Don Clark the highest number this year at Westminster Station was 641 on 8/22, but on most evenings the counts were much lower, often in the 100's or low 200's.
Here's a link to a video featuring recordings - the peenting nasal call and the boom made by the wings when the bird is diving - narrated by Macaulay Library curator Greg Budney. Great photos too, much better than mine.

Finally on the last day, just when the numbers of passing Nighthawks had tapered to almost nothing, we were treated to two Bald Eagles circling above.
Happy Fall Birding!

17 comments:

  1. ...such an enjoyable pursuit, chasing the night-hawks. great photos Hilde

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  2. Hilke, I admire anyone who can get photos of these swift moving birds, well done! I hope to see some Nighthawks soon.

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  3. Hi Hilke,
    NIce photos and interesting post.
    We are over in southwest NH on the Contoocook River corridor and also watch for Common Nighthawks in migration. We turn our numbers into the SuAsCo/Nashua Rivers & Beyond website, which monitors night hawk migration,
    http://www.borobirding.net/home.html
    and so does Don Clark and other birders who watch nighthawks in NH and MA. We were very lucky this year to see
    1,026 nighthawks fly by our home on 9/3/12, the most seen in a single night this year, for any reporting site on the website.They are awesome birds.
    They are hard to photograph, I use my Canon 1D Mark IV, with Canon 300 mm lens plus 1.4 teleconverter, hand held, on autofocus high speed continuous mode.
    thanks again for you post.
    Best,
    Lillian Stokes

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    1. Thanks, Lillian. Don Clark mentioned the website but I didn't catch the URL; I will look it up now. You had a magnificent photo on your post! I'd love to find a site next year where they come down to the water, but that's probably unpredictable. I use a Nikon D300 with Nikon 70-200 VR lens and 2 x teleconverter.

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  4. Great post Hilke! Interesting to learn about their migration and behaviors. They look like gorgeous birds!

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  5. I have only seen nighthawks from quite a distance so it is nice to see your great still shots. They really are beautiful birds. Wonderful, informative post! It must be really something to observe these small flocks while they head their way south. Thanks for sharing, Hilke, I learned something new today.

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  6. Hilke, wonderful shots and story! I love nighthawks! Now that I am back in Tucson I can see both Lesser and common nighthawks. I suspect they are migrating here as well. I need to get used to the rhythms of this place again!

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  7. Nighthawks are such cool birds. I've never seen loads of them passing through on migration, but I have found spots in Idaho and Oregon where there were just tons of them roosting or feeding. I've never been able to capture photos of them in flight, so I've got to work on that. I have had them booming right over my head as I stood atop a hill with my son and a friend. It was one of those really cool birding moments.

    I have a couple posts featuring perched Common Nighthawks:

    http://www.birdingisfun.com/2011/06/these-wonderful-birding-days.html
    http://www.birdingisfun.com/2010/06/common-nighthawk-bump-on-log.html

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    1. Great photos, Robert! Out west you have a much greater chance to see them. I found out though that you can't copy and paste the addresses; you have to type them out - a real pain....

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  8. Hilke, wonderful photos of these birds. I have been watching when i can from my porch and have not seen any, but need to keep watching.

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    1. Thanks, Dan. I think the nighthawk migration is over. Better luck next year!

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  9. The Nighthawks look beautiful in flight.

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  10. Beautiful captures.

    I'm glad someone else calls them nighthawks. I found in a lot of books, they're referred to goatsuckers...I'd much prefer the name nighthawk!!!

    Silent Silhouettes

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  11. Great post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  12. Those Bald Eagles are amazing. Lovely shots.

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  13. Super post Hilke. I have a vague recollection of seeing one amoungst a mass of migrating Hawks during a trip to High Island in Sept 2003.

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