Hey Tweeters,

Three of what I'm assuming were the last Common Nighthawks of the year
were wheeling and stooping, catching insects, high over my yard this evening
at 7:20pm. They peaked here this fall around August 8, when 27 were counted.
It's good to know that they are still hanging on over here on the west side
where only a few years ago they seemed a lot more common.

A quick question for those who keep track - when do Swainson's
Thrushes typically vacate our area? Wahl & Paulson list them as leaving in
mid-August, but obviously this is in error as I detected at least 34 in a
couple of hours of listening to migrants last night and have been hearing
them nightly. I presume they'll be apparent for at least a couple of more
weeks. Other birds heard last night between 10:30pm and 12:45am were what
sounded like 5 Caspian Terns (adults and juveniles flying together to the
southwest, perhaps migrating from eastern Washington to the coast?), 10
Orange-crowned, 4 either Black-throated Gray or Townsend's, and 2-3 Yellow
Warblers.

Good birding,

Charlie Wright
Birdking88 at aol.com
Sumner, WA