Ed,

You asked about how the Nighthawks are doing in the nearby foothills with
rocky balds, (where Nighthawks might be happy nesting).

This last June 15th I got a chance to go to a spot near the NE corner of
the Olympic Peninsula, in an area with rocky balds in the foothills of the
Olympics, and next to one of the rocky balds, but not quite at the bald
top. I was quite pleased to hear, then see a Nighthawk, and like you,
missing the days, about 40 - 38 years ago, that we Seattleites could see
and hear them on summer evenings at Green Lake.

Though it was exciting to me to hear and see this bird, it didn't seem
worth reporting until, thanks to your inquiry, I could report it as an
answer to a question. I only imagined that these birds were regularly seen
and heard, in this area where I was, but hadn't been to in about a decade.
(I can't quite remember if I was seeing and hearing Nighthawks there at
that time, when I was doing surveys there of both plants, and the
endangered Taylor's Checkerspot butterfly. I better remember the Great
Horned Owl there that I was talking to, but who then stopped talking to me
that night, and refused to respond to me the following night, after my
hooting while walking, which I knew was probably not wise. I expect their
triangulation hearing, made it clear that this human was the one hooting,
not another GHO.)

-Stewart
www.stewardshipadventures.com




> Message: 1

> Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2018 23:31:54 +0000 (UTC)

> From: Ed Newbold <ednewbold1 at yahoo.com>

> To: Tweeters Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

> Subject: [Tweeters] Another Seattle Nighthawk sighting--what's the

> deal?

> Message-ID: <320689767.2611815.1530747114355 at mail.yahoo.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

>

> Hi all,

> I was delighted to hear of Mary Hrudkaj's audio-sightings of Seattle

> Nighthawks in her wonderful Special Olympics post. Thanks Mary!

>

> Our friend Mark Moon also reported a very recent Seattle sighting, a bird

> continuously beeping over the Safeway on Capitol Hill at 15th and John on

> Monday July 2nd around 10 pm.

> When Mark told me this I began to brim with an unwise amount of optimism

> that this could maybe be a bird on territory!

> (Like many, I burn a candle that the Nighthawk might return to Seattle

> some day as a breeder. It is 38-40 years gone now.)

> To informally test out the bird-on-territory hypothesis we went over to

> the Safeway last night and spent some quality time around 10 pm in the

> parking lot and walking around on the sidewalks as July 4 revelry proceeded

> in the drinking establishments filled with people mostly younger than us

> and not thinking "It's passed my bed-time."

> Unfortunately, we neither saw nor heard any Nighthawks.? But I'm curious

> about these sightings.? It's late in the season, is it not, for the regular

> migration of Nighthawks??

> Is it possible that Nighthawks are slightly prospering in the nearby

> clearcuts and balds of the lowland foothills? A more pessimistic

> explanation is these could be wandering refugees from the drought in OR and

> CA.

> I'm always interested in what the erudite readership of Tweeters might

> have to say on about this,

>

>

>

> Thanks all,Ed Newbold? Beacon Hill

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