[va-bird] Nighthawks: Arlington and Tysons

["Donald Sweig" <dsweig@xxxxxxxxx>]

Encouraged by Steve Young's amazing report and  juicy photo of nighthawks in
Arlington on Sat. evening, I went out to see what I  could find this
evening.  Not much early, but by about 6p.m. I arrived in the small parking
lot at Glen Carlyn Park where there is a good view of the sky and also a
view  up and down the bike trail. About 6:15 I had my first kettle of about
30-40 nighthawks slowly kettling across the horizon.  At about 6:40, when I
was on the phone with Steve, I looked out the car window, gasped and hung up
quickley.  I had a kettle of at least 75-80 and probably closer to 100
birds, again slowly gliding across the horizion.  By the time I left at
7:25, I had seen 2 more 30+ kettles , several of 10-12, and several
individual birds. Never have I seen nighthawks kettle like this before.
Unlike hawks that kettle and then drift out in a line, the nighthawk kettles
held together and just drifted slowly across the sky.   There was no
indication that the birds were feeding, just flying around close together.
After a quick dinner, I went to Tysons to check it out there.  AGAIN the
lights were off on the two big tower buildings. But at nearby Fairfax Square
(directly across Rt. 7 from the mall), there were a dozen or two nighthawks
feeding in the ambient light from the buildings.  As the lights did not
directly shine up into the sky, the birds were much lower allowing for
excellent looks at the plummage.  These birds were actively feeding.  All in
all, it was a great couple of shows.   Keep your eyes on the sky in the
early evening and at night for few days. There are LOTS of nighthawks around
just now.
--
Donald Sweig
Falls Church,Va.

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[va-bird] Nighthawks: Arlington and Tysons