ML636447248

Detalles de la observación

*RARE bird. UNHEARD OF experience. Absolutely bonkers. I was standing with Mirat at the NW corner of the parking lot, trying in vain to pick out a migrant or two from the small stand of trees there, when I took a break to do a quick scan of the sky. A bird that I first assumed to be some sort of raptor was making its way south, but something seemed off about the erratic flight pattern. As I trained my bins on the bird, I was faced with a silhouette that I had not seen before. Some of the most magical moments in birding are those where you are faced with a bird that makes you say “what am I looking at . . . ,” where for a few seconds your mind goes through your catalog of a lifetime of birding memories and still comes up blank. I don’t get many of those moments anymore, but this was one of them. When I first saw the bird, I thought maybe I was looking at an injured Northern Harrier based on the long, tapered wings, but then it turned and I saw the head. That honker of a reptilian-looking head. After a few seconds of cognitive dissonance, I realized I was looking at a NIGHTJAR, more specifically, a CHUCK-WILL’S WIDOW. A Chuck. Flying around at 7:30 in the morning. In broad daylight. In Baltimore City. Getting to watch a CWWI in extended flight in daylight is an experience I never thought I would have (and which I will probably never have again), and it was fascinating to study this bird as it worked its way south. It’s flight resembled what I would describe as an intoxicated Common Nighthawk, an impression probably created by the (insanely) long wings and slower wing-flaps. The bird crossed the Middle Branch and continued south until it was out of view. AGAIN AND AGAIN, the bird-your-patch challenge pays off. Only because of the challenge did I find myself at West Covington Park on this mid-April morning, reveling in one of the most unlikely birding experiences I’ve ever had. Needless to say, first record for West Covington Park, and one of the only records in Baltimore City away from Patterson or Fort McHenry.