Lesser Nighthawk Update, Harney County 9/24/21
9 birders gathered at the Blitzen River bridge near Page Springs CG about 530pm
to observe the continuing lesser nighthawks
Weather conditions were perfect with no wind and warm temperatures of 65
degrees after a high of 82. Clear sky. No smoke
At 620 pm 3 distant nighthawks were observed flying in close proximity to each
other, downstream of the bridge about 1 mile away and very high. After about 15
minutes they flew over the bridge heading upstream, still quite high, and
disappeared.
Distant photos were taken of these birds.
At 708 pm 1 nighthawk was spotted flying down stream towards us at the bridge.
Our best view. But it turned a about 200 yards before the bridge and vanished
below the horizon. It looked like the lessers that have been observed over the
past few days
Viewing stopped about 720 due to poor light
The group felt 2 were lessers by appearance and the third was questionable
depending on your point of view as they flew over
If you want to try to observe these birds arrive by 530 pm to view from the
bridge just before Page Springs CG or near the entrance to Page Springs
campground on the river dike. Bring a chair, because you might wait a while.
Rumors are that wine cheese and crackers may be on the Saturday eve menu.
Several of us will try again Saturday eve.
Insects were abundant with a hatch of one particular species. Mosquitoes were
not an issue
Page Springs CG and Steens Mountain Resort have been full the last 2 nights but
you can camp with other birders at Page Springs CG
Usually many campers leave on Sunday.
Cheers
Rick Vetter
Sent from my iPhone
Rick Vetter cotingas@xxxxxxxxx
Phone 541-589-2230
“Even the worst handwritten notes are better than the
best memory or technology”
Sergej Postupalsky, eagle researcher
On Sep 24, 2021, at 5:16 PM, Craig Miller <gismiller@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I expect the weekend crowd will sort out any inconsistencies in our
reports... :>)
On Fri, Sep 24, 2021, 1:47 PM <tc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I was down at Page Springs as well and did get some photos that will be
posted later. All of them showed P9 longer than P10, which is a good sign
for Lesser Nighthawk. The consensus of observers not named Miller is that
there were two birds, not three. No one other than Craig declared that one
of the birds was a male Common Nighthawk. My photos don't show either bird
to be a male. Opinions were either Lesser Nighthawk or uncertain, but
leaning Lesser. When the bird flew over the third time (the one Craig is
calling the third bird) I was one of the ones moving his car so I can't
comment on it. But the people I talked to said it was consistent with the
second bird we had seen a half hour earlier but that the light was
different on that one and it was moving very fast. After the Millers left
we were treated to quite a show between 7:30 and 7:30. Both birds were
flying back and forth between the two bridges on the refuge road before it
turns into the campground. Unfortunately we were halway between the road
and the campground. Both birds showed a wide base to the wing, blunt tips,
with P10 shorter than P9 and the wing patches appeared to be closer to the
wing tips. Jeff Nordstrom and Rick Vetter will be looking tonight so
hopefully they can add more to the discussion.
Tom Crabtree
On Fri, 24 Sep 2021 09:51:05 -0700, Craig Miller <gismiller@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi all,didnt
Marilyn and I were present with several other birders hoping to see the
Lesser Nighthawk(s) reported and photographed by others over the past
week. The entire episode was a little frustrating, despite the
exhilaration of seeing the bird. At approximately 5:50 a nighthawk was
spotted. It was exciting to see and we believed we were observing a male
Lesser Nighthawk. It had obvious white wing patches, and we felt it had
rounded wing tips and patches near the end of the wing. Multiple photos
were obtained by other observers. My own camera was too slow and unable
to focus on the bird, so I was not able to take photos. However, we
have as much time to study the bird as we would have liked, though theand
bird was clearly not that of the Lesser Nighthawk photographed several
days earlier – the wing patches on that bird were narrow and buffy –
as might be expected for a female. So, we were left with some doubts,
clearly the need to study the photos more.more
A few minutes later, another nighthawk appeared. This bird remained in
view longer, and to my perception appeared to be a Common Nighthawk.
Although fairly late in the season for Common Nighthawk, it is not
unprecedented. The white wing patch didnt seem all that distal and the
wing tips appeared pointed. There was varying opinion about whether this
bird was a Common Nighthawk or Lesser Nighthawk, and it also created
doubt in my mind whether the first bird we observed was a Lesserat
Nighthawk or not.
Soon after this 2nd bird disappeared to the south, the Camp Host showed
up, requesting that everyone move their vehicles from the campsite where
most were parked. We had been under the impression that we were parked
a campsite of a fellow birder, but that was not correct. Almost everyonethe
left to move their cars, but my Marilyn had already moved our vehicle
thanks to an earlier encounter by the campers. While the other observers
were away, Marilyn and I spotted a nighthawk flying above. This bird was
distinctly different from the previous two nighthawks we had observed,
and we were immediately able to identify this as a female Lesser
Nighthawk. The wing patches were narrow and buffy, visible only at
relatively close range, and they were nearer the end of the wing than
2nd nighthawk we had observed (that we identified as Common Nighthawk).later,
It disappeared to the south, and by the time we left about an hour
no further nighthawks were seen. We were disappointed that everyone who
went to move their cars were not present to see and document this last
nighthawk. We don’t know if it was seen after we left around 7:00 PM.
Cheers,
Craig MillerBend
