Larimer County-probably no point at all...

[Josh Bruening]

Why is it that any nighthawk flying in a southerly direction on June 11th worries me? Might have to do with hoping I didn’t miss summer. The leaves just set in. The tomatoes are just starting to look well. We’ve avoided hail thus far. They’ll sit in a tree screeching right in front of me mere feet away but I can’t see them. Yet suddenly, as invisible as they were a moment prior, they are unmistakably present magically before me. What is it with these birds? They’re not here. Then they’re right there. Seriously, right there. They mess with you. They don’t mean to. They’re just doing them. Their calls can comfort you if you believe them and let them. Summer is here. Why point south? Bugs will make them turn that way, I suppose. I hope. Maybe this was a longer winter than I thought. Maybe Spring will last ‘til July. But they made it. Later than usual. But they’re here. How their calls comfort me in my little backyard in mid-town Fort Collins.

Josh Bruening
Fort Collins

[Derek Hill]

Hi Josh,

I am curious of the nighthawks as well. I had not seen or heard a single one this year until about two days ago. Now they are buzzing around my neighborhood in Milliken the last couple evenings, vocal and all.  I simply hope it is that they have fledged young and are out and about. But bugs are disappearing around the world, maybe the nighthawks are heading south. Who knows.

Derek Hill

Milliken

derekt...@hotmail.com

[Libby Edwards]

About a week ago in the evening near dusk, I was in the garden and about 10 or so nighthawks flew low overhead to the southwest.  I have not seen any since but have been looking. They used to appear flying overhead midsummer, maybe 1-3, as we dined on the back porch....unmistakable fliers.

Libby Edwards

Northwest Fort Collins before the foothills

Larimer County

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[Dave Cameron]

I had never seen Com Nighthawks anywhere near my neighborhood in suburban Denver City/County, but this year I had one, about 2 weeks ago, right in front of my house, giving its diagnostic "Meer!" call.  Indeed, many of the birds have changed up a bit with this year's unusual weather during Spring migration.  Extra Goldfinches, extra Tanagers, a female "russet-backed" Swainson's Thrush in my yard for 3 days, a Lazuli Bunting in my yard for 3 days, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the yard... many firsts came out of this year's weather.

Dave Cameron

Denver 

[ronbco]

Speaking of nighthawks....
I was birding near Crow Valley with my son last week. A few nighthawks we’re flying, we saw 2 still snoozing in trees and on a post, even just an hour before sunset. We were hunting for a visual of some singing bird and once we found it, a mockingbird, we were watching it go through it’s reper when a nighthawk flew over and called. The mockingbird immediately imitated it for a couple seconds and then moved on to its next song! To immediately switch from one song to a nighthawk call! It was one of those unbelievable moments when I marveled at the design by the Creator.

[Bill Miller]

Cobirders -

I wouldn't get all stressed out about SW flights of nighthawks, nor the lateness of their appearance.  We've had a colder-than-usual spring and weird weather patters to our south that really messed up migration this year.  Various species seemed to come through Colorado in waves, i.e., Western Tanagers.  One report from a bird bander working with the Bird Conservancy reported that some birds arrived with adequate fat in their bodies while others arrived with very little body fat.  Various species, such as the tanagers, were lingering longer than usual, stoking up on suet and anything else available, as if they had been on short rations prior to their arrival.

I suspect that what appears to be a later than usual arrival of Common Nighthawks can be attributed to the lingering cold weather either delaying the hatching of flying insects or keeping them on the ground and in trees, thus depriving nighthawks of their prey.  No prey, no appearance.

My two cents worth.

Bill Miller

Fort Collins

On Wed, Jun 12, 2019 at 5:33 PM 'ronbco' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Speaking of nighthawks....
I was birding near Crow Valley with my son last week. A few nighthawks we’re flying, we saw 2 still snoozing in trees and on a post, even just an hour before sunset. We were hunting for a visual of some singing bird and once we found it, a mockingbird, we were watching it go through it’s reper when a nighthawk flew over and called. The mockingbird immediately imitated it for a couple seconds and then moved on to its next song! To immediately switch from one song to a nighthawk call! It was one of those unbelievable moments when I marveled at the design by the Creator.

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[Ira Sanders]

At this time of year there are usually hundreds of Western Grebes at Barr Lake. Yesterday I didn't see a one. The park manager said she has seen a couple. This is very strange and I would also guess it's attributable to the weather. Maybe they all went to John Martin reservoir.

Ira Sanders

Golden

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