ML323830891

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(Rare): “unreported”: digibin photos of cont. bird found this early afternoon by Annika Andersson, LENI flushing and roosting on driftwood of beachside, wow! Lovely sweet find and photos and thank you for reporting! — seen again tonight at sunset, seen well with Aaron B, flying over meadowy just behind driftwood beach, 7:49-7:56p, Aaron got good photos [see his checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S85005903 ] and I got some itsy ones through my bins (which show a nighthawk with white bar in wing, and also allover light buffy color of bird unlike darker blackish CONI color) . Silhouette smaller more compact shaped than CONI, wing proportions not as long and narrow as CONI, and overall just light buffy ochre color, — this bird shape and color tonight is perfectly (except tonight’s bird with more conspicuous white wing bars instead of buff, I guess bc this one a spring adult plumage instead of juv) what I remember of my LENI I found in Bend (at Hatfield sewer ponds 09/11 and seen again 09/16/2018, https://ebird.org/checklist/S48562049 seen well on two different nights, and it’s amazing to us that no Bend birders followed up on my ebird report to look at it too, I guess because no one (including myself) back then believed I could find rare birds? So no one looked and they all missed an easy-chase LENI that continued over at least 6 days.) Tonight’s LENI a Lifer for Caleb! We are so happy to watch it fly for 6 minutes! — “It seemed very fluttery and seemed very magical and tropical, and I enjoyed seeing it! Wingtip shape apparently more rounded than CONI; location of bars closer to the top than CONI very apparent. Flight very mothy, looks like a little butterfly with spots on both wings.” And tonight is eve of our Birdiversary, 2 years ago when Caleb and I first birded together all day at another rare bird chase, California Thrasher; so, special to see another wonderful bird on an anniversary :-) Enjoyable this eve watching LENI with Aaron, and grateful to Aaron for spotting it and calling to us. We had stood together 45 minutes watching the meadowy where saw it had last disappeared, but then 2-minutes before sunset Caleb and I parted to station ourselves along beach and inbetween too, in case the bird would be seen over river mouth at bay, and it reappeared for Aaron almost immediately after we moved stations, flying moth-like in fore of trees eastside of meadowy. Flying at height of treetops and down to low over meadow, never flying against sky high up like CONI would more. Flying, hawking after insects, saw one of the insects as it went for it! CKJ 7:48p : We are here watching with Aaron, it’s about to be sunset. ... still hopeful AB 7:51p: We just saw it again! It’s over the field, looks good for lesser so far. CKJ: It’s flying !!! Great views!! Aaron first spotted it 7:49 !! It might have just gone over the treetops away 7:56p It disappeared exactly at: 45.5096,-123.8814 Sunset was exactly 7:50 down here tonight, so it pretty much started flying right at sunset ! 8:15 we are giving up our watch. We never saw it again. But we saw it well and got photos for 6-7 minutes !! Lovely evening. Apparently had been windier in the hours before we arrived, but mostly just lovely now. Low tide was 5p, we were told. *** Some other helpful notes from WhatsApp earlier today: RN: Arcata bird did not vocalize. Curiously, it foraged quite low and was foraging over the river. I would be checking the small creek mouth south of Goose Point at dusk BA: If it is that far south, run out the trail to Kilchis Point, park at Kilchis Point Reserve lot. There are marshy river mouths on each side of Kilchis Point. The trail would be longer than simply parking at Salmon or Clam. Though the parking lot at the reserve maybe best if a number if cars are on street. AB: This is the last sighting location. It flew out over the field behind. 45.5087107, -123.8874967 Its easiest access from Salmon. The water treatment ponds are also fairly close. It might go over there for bugs too. AB [had briefly seen it at 4pm before bird flushed into meadowy]: Neither of us saw it long enough to give it a definite Common vs Lesser. I have one blurred photo on the log before it flew. It was facing us directly so i couldnt see where the primary patches where in comparison to the tertials and tail at that angle. The primary wing patches in flight seemed a little bit higher up on the wing. It also seemed somewhat dainter and short winged, but honestly it is hard to say without longer views and comparisons. It was more buffier on the breast in person more than the other photos that I have seen from earlier today. DB [also saw it with AB]: The nighthawk was close to the area where Annika had photographed it earlier - between the 2 stick-teepees. We had walked past that area earlier without seeing it, but on the way back, we first noticed it when it flushed and flew around behind the tall trees, then came out and landed in driftwood further east. As we walked towards the place it had landed, it flushed and flew back behind trees again, towards the grassy field. PK: Lesser Nighthawks in AZ often feed very low over water bodies at dusk and also around bright street lights. The latter usually at night after it gets dark. Lessers rarely call outside of breeding season and it's usually from the ground when they do in my experience (lived in Tucson for many years). They make trilling calls and do not peent like Common Nighthawks. I've rarely heard their flight calls.

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