I intended to run my binocular across the dark, overcast sky one last time before closing the day's count at Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, located just outside of Mount Kisco. Instead, under a very light westerly wind at 15:59 (EST), I came away with a cluster of birds due east of the watch platform flying only a few hundred feet above the ridge tops. For just a second, I assumed it was a late day movement of Broad-winged Hawk piling up in a thermal; after I shook myself from my late-day stupor, I could see plainly that it was a veritable kettle of Common Nighthawk! 46 of them. Within minutes these birds began heading north, streaming out in twos and threes until they were nowhere to be seen.
At 16:11, I spied at least 20 more nighthawk southeast of the watch platform blinking out of the haze at the reaches of visibility near the Long Island Sound. I could not tell which direction they were headed, nor was I able to count all of them before they disappeared from view. At 16:27, two nighthawk passed along a similar flight line as the first larger kettle. These were the final birds I observed before I finally went home at 17:00. Including the individual I observed late AM, the total for today is at least 69 Common Nighthawk. An exciting cap to a trying day! My colleague, Tait Johansson, had observed a flock of 19 nighthawks south of the platform on August 17 at ~17:30, spotting another individual north of the platform around the same time. We see nighthawks each year at Chestnut Ridge in early fall, and I regret that the timing of our coverage probably does not account for the actual number of nighthawk that travel within viewing distance of the platform. \\ Arthur -- Arthur W. Green <awgr...@bedfordaudubon.org> Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch, Bedford, NY http://www.bedfordaudubon.org/hawkwatch.html http://www.hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=534 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
