Common Nighthawk - Little Cheesman - Denver

[Jared Del Rosso]

I took my dog Iggy for an evening walk in Cheesman, hoping to see the sapsucker before the sunset. I didn't. On our way out of main Cheesman, Iggy and I dawdled, hoping to spot nighthawk. We didn't. We gave up as clouds arrived from the west and evening from the other side. 

We took our time getting back to our car, which was parked near 7th and High St in "Little Cheesman." And I took my time leaving our parking spot, reading a few urgent, unexpected, but well-timed work emails from the driver's seat. Those emails held me up long enough for a nighthawk to swoop by, low into Little Cheesman. I told Iggy I'd be right back, hopped out, then stood in the field as three of the birds swept through. (I believe there were three. One would come by, I'd watch it, turn and see two. But perhaps the first joined a second in the time when I lost track of it.)  One came by at eye level, an arm's length or so away. 

This all happened around 7:15-7:25 PM. The birds came in from the east (approx. Race St.). I observed them from the High St side of the park, midway between 7th and 8th. I don't know that they make a habit of visiting Little Cheesman nightly, but it seems worth investigating. 

Interestingly, on June 8, I saw a nighthawk fly out, then back into, Race St between 7th and 8th. This happened once or twice. The bird didn't make any territorial displays -- just disappeared out of view behind the houses east of Little Cheesman. 

- Jared Del Rosso

Denver, CO