Hello Joanne and Tweeters,


I agree with Hans, these were likely a group of Nighthawks- they sometimes cluster during the day. The white wing patches are a strong identification indicator for this species. I was on the Eastside Tuesday and Common Nighthawks were very active and in full display in the evening and after dark. I actually flushed one a few feet beyond me deep in a forest. It flew about 70 feet and landed on a tree limb and we spent some time observing each other at eye level on a slope. After sunset another was calling and diving. The calling was very loud and I suspect a female was on the ground or territory was being established. A long, intense, much more localized display- centered on a very specific and small area then I have experienced in the past. Very neat. I always feel that it is a special event when I see one on the ground, in a tree or see and hear them in flight.


I recently realized that I have strong and pleasant associations of Nighthawks with my childhood and the long evenings and best weather of Western Washington. A personal brown bird of happiness.


Last year, near Wenas , I watched and listened to one display in the early afternoon. It dove very close to the ground, the only time I have seen near- ground dives. After several displays in the near distance, it silently flew in and landed on a very nearby branch, in stereotypical orientation, watched me for a few minutes and went to sleep. I just happened to be in the right place and looking up and the right time. Never imagined I would see one fly in at very close range and roost.


I also watched a dozen working a Mayfly hatch above a creek at midday, last year at Wenas campground and wondered how they knew that the hatch was occurring at that time. I speculated that they were resting, but alert nearby and became activated by the flying aquatic insect hatches.


I also heard one on two different nights in Bellevue , last week for about 5 minutes each.



Best regards,
Dan Reiff
MI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hans-Joachim Feddern " < thefedderns at gmail .com>
To: "Joanne Saul" <saulmill50 at gmail .com>
Cc: tweeters at u. washington . edu
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 8:50:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] tweeters

Joanne,

It sounds like Common Nighthawks.

Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA.


On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 8:20 AM, Joanne Saul < saulmill50 at gmail .com > wrote:



Joanne Saul
Gig Harbor, WA
saulmill50 at gmail .com

On Saturday, I was floating down the Yakima River between Ringer Loop and the Slab. We observed one species of bird that I could not identify. We saw this bird several times in small groups and one larger group over Big Red's. The larger group had about 8 - 10 birds in it. The birds were soaring above the level of the swallows. It was larger than the swallows. It seemed dark with white patches on the outer wings. It's wings were thin and seemed to be "bent at an elbow' . It stayed over the river, soaring. I have looked in field quides but could not find what I saw. The white patches on the dark wings really stood out.

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--
Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail .com


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