dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca (David Graham) (07/23/90)
Like a lot of other people I guess, we're just back from some
holidays. We had 3 weeks in Northern California and southern Oregon,
doing as much birding as one can with 2 fairly young kids in tow who
are only intermittently interested. We did manage about 165 species
for the trip including about 25 lifers for me and about 30 for Pamela.
Though we did have some birds we'd really hoped for, including Blue
Grouse (finally--at Lassen Peak Volcanic Park) and Western Tanager, we
missed some I really thought we'd get, such as Tricolored Blackbird
(none definitely seen) and Yellow-billed Magpie. Ah well, there's
always next time.
We didn't get to Malheur, which proved to be just too far out
of our way, but had a fabulous time at Lower Klamath/Tule Lake/Lava
Beds Nat'l Monument. I can't recommend this area too highly; I had
always thought of it simply as a wintering site for waterfowl, and was
truly surprised by the amount of activity: multitudes of ducks, of
course, but also American Avocets, Black-necked Stilt, White-faced
Ibis, American White Pelican, Mountain Bluebird, Prairie Falcon and so
on and so forth.
One question for you California birders: why are the large
flocks of Common Nighthawk so active in broad daylight in arid
country? We're used to seeing them become active a dusk, but in
California we frequently saw large numbers at all hours of the day as
well as in the evening. Just curious...
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David Graham dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca
Department of French & Spanish {...}munucs!dgraham
Memorial University of Newfoundland (709)737-7636/7 (Voice)
St John's, NF (709)737-4000 (Fax)
CANADA A1B 3X9
***************************************************************************mjm@oliven.olivetti.com (Michael Mammoser) (08/01/90)
In article <106925@kean.ucs.mun.ca>, dgraham@kean.ucs.mun.ca (David Graham) writes: > > One question for you California birders: why are the large > flocks of Common Nighthawk so active in broad daylight in arid > country? We're used to seeing them become active a dusk, but in > California we frequently saw large numbers at all hours of the day as > well as in the evening. Just curious... I saw a flock of about twenty Common Nighthawks actively foraging at midday at Arapahoe NWR in Colorado back in June. The literature that I have read seems to indicate that daytime activity of these birds is not all that unusual. Mike