At 09:50 AM 4/22/98 -0700, Alan Bauer (ST Labs) wrote:
>Can anyone confirm for me whether COMMON NIGHTHAWKS might be in the area by
>now or not? My reason for asking is that last night around 9:00pm I heard
>what really sounded like one to me coming from a creek ravine at the edge of
>our property. The call was coming once about every 2-3 minutes from
>somewhere up in some alder trees from best I could tell. I was unable to
>locate anything with a flashlight. At first I thought I was hearing our
>resident BARN OWL, but the call was much shorter in length and not near as
>raspy/hissy as the BARN OWL call I am familiar with. Thus, I am about 99%
>certain I was holding a conversation with a COMMON NIGHTHAWK :-)
>
>Thanks for any confirmation help you might offer!
> Alan Bauer
> Fall City, WA
> v-alanba at microsoft.com

Nighthawks are about the last of the northbound migrants to reach our area.
They usually don't show up until the first week of June. A bird in late
May would be early; a bird in late April is way, way early. Also, they
usually call in flight - not while perched. So, I'm not sure who you were
talking to?



Eric Kraig
Olympia, WA
kraig at wln.com