30 August 2002
After the large nighthawk flight Sunday at Van Dyck Park, Fairfax
City, I had modest flights on Monday (60) and Tuesday(45).
Wednesday August 28 brought some relief from our drought. It rained
all day. By the time my watch started it was only raining lightly, but
there was a fairly strong NE wind. Didn't see any nighthawks that evening.
The next evening I recorded only 4 birds.
This evening I had my largest flight of the year- 153 nighthawks, all
of which I worked very hard to find. Their cloaking technology was fully
functional as they drifted in and out of the clouds in an overcast sky.
Luckily the majority flew overhead, albeit very high. I probably missed
some of the more distant ones.
To date, I have seen about 40% of the three year seasonal average and
about 50% of last year's total as of 8-30. With an unstable weather pattern
and rain in the forecast I don't expect much movement this weekend, but the
nocturnal gathering at Tyson's Corner should remain quite large.
Paul Woodward
Fairfax City, VA 22032
grackling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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