Growing up in a small town in Iowa, I was introduced to birding by being
buzzed by a nighthawk. We were taking down a big skylight over the
auditorium and roofing over the resulting hole. A pair of nighthawks had a
nest fairly far away on the roof. Every now and then, out of the blue, one
of the birds would come down very low. Everytime this would happen just
inches from your head we would involuntarily drop to our knees. One of the
older men on the crew was a bird watcher and told me what the bird was and
took me out on some trips and I have been hooked ever since.
Bob Norton
norton36 at olypen.com
Joyce (near Port Angeles), WA
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim OBrien
To: Tweeters
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 9:31 AM
Subject: Buzzed by a nighthawk


Friday morning, I was out in the wee hours of the morning in the hills
north of the Elma/Satsop area. I was hoping to catch some owls, but none
were heard. There were several Common Nighthawks flying over different
clearcuts. At one point, I had stopped along a logging road in the middle
of a clearcut and noticed a nighthawk circling not too far overhead. I
walked around the car a few times and surprisingly the nighthawk pulled its
circling in really tight to me. I began to get concerned because it was
getting really close. Then it moved down really close to the ground and
disappeared. A few seconds later it re-appeared and it had been joined by
another nighthawk. I have to say it was a hair-raising experience when it
got really close. Are nighthawks territorial or perhaps do they nest around
here?

Also, as I was ending my drive, I stopped at a swampy area bordered by
clearcuts at the end of Newman Creek Rd. I spotted a single Common
Nighthawk there roosting in one of the dead alder trees. This is the first
nighthawk I have seen roosting. It was clearly at rest with its head
tucked. I snapped a few pictures, but the distance may have been too far
for good quality.

I also got long looks at a Ruffed Grouse along of the one logging roads.
It had flew off at one point, but while I was pishing for some smaller birds
nearby the grouse actually came back. I must try pishing for grouse more
often!

Good birding,

Tim O'Brien
Elma, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com