Thanks for all the feedback everyone, this possible rarity must go
unidentified.
As long as I’m not sleepwalking to work, maybe I’ll get another chance
Be well and happy nocturnal birding!
-Joshua Meyers
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 1, 2020, at 2:13 PM, Jeff Gilligan <jeffgilligan10@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:POST: Send your post to obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Apr 1, 2020, at 2:06 PM, Robert O'Brien <baro@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Right, Poorwill, the usual suspect. Although not really having the pointed
wings of a nighthawk, it's infinitely more likely.
There are no records of west coast Lessers north of Redding CA
And, since it does seem to be a real observation. The fact that it quickly
'disappeared' is consistent with Poorwill
which feeds typically by flying up from the ground, not by sailing around
like a swallow or nighthawk.
Bob OBrien
I don’t recall having seen Poorwills flying around a light on a pole. I
think of them as “ground nightjars”, feeding near the ground, while
nighthawks being “sky nightjars”, feeding higher in the sky. I see a lot of
Lesser Nighthawks. They seem to feed generally lower than Commons, scubas
around lights on poles. While Common Night hawks are now scarce in Portland,
they were once fairly common. I always saw then flying high in the city. My
bet is still lesser Nighthawk. When you wrote “no records (of Lessers) north
of Redding, CA”, did you mean this spring. There are proven records north
of us in British Columbia and Washington in the past.
Jeff Gilligan
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