I had just called a friend to report the peenting of one Nighthawk at The
Wetlands (CRI12) in James River Park, then a few minutes later a dozen or
more started sounding off. I left the woods for the meadow at that point
and the most I saw at one time in the air was 5. They have not been there
the past couple of evenings, which is the only time I get out at the moment.
Glad they are back.
Jan
Richmond, VA
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Ake [mailto:rake@xxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 10:27 PM
To: va-bird
Subject: [Va-bird] Three nightjar evening
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.
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