With the weather expected to be warm and no rain on the immediate
horizon, I decided to go after all three of Virginia's nightjars this
evening. All three have been reported already this year, so I knew they
were around. I started by going to Portsmouth to see if the Common
Nighthawk reported by Elisa Enders earlier was out hawking insects. I
got through the downtown tunnel with no problems, but it was apparently
still too early in the evening for the nighthawk to be active, though
there was a nice street band playing. So I headed out to Sussex County
to get the other two. Chuck-will's-widows are the easier of the two
being present at First Landing State Park in some numbers and all the
southside counties as well. The more difficult one, Eastern
Whip-poor-will, is not really a problem. The trick is finding the
nearest one to Tidwater so the drive to get it isn't too long. Although
a few are heard west of the Great Dismal Swamp, they don't seem to stay
around. Last year I researched nearby locations for a visiting birder
from California and decided that the birds recorded near Piney Grove
during the VSO Foray were the closest. And that's where I went. It's a
spot west of Wakefield one mile west of route 604 on Harrell Mill Rd.
Shortly after turning off US460 and crossing the railroad tracks, I
heard the first Chuck. I heard a few more and then turned right,
driving slowly for the mile. And there was the Whip. So I turned
around and headed back to Tidewater to try for the nighthawk a second
time. It seemed to take forever to get there and of course there was a
backup at the tunnel. I took a deep breath and turned onto Crawford
Parkway and eased up to the Baptist Church. The nighthawk was
peenting. I got out of the car and watched it dip and call for several
minutes. It finally appeared to land on the flat roof of the church,
indicating a possible nesting sight. I headed home with that smile on
my face that's only there when things work out as they were supposed
to....and it's not that common.
