Common nighthawk

Bud1880

I walked out on the deck yesterday and happened to look up and spot something high in a sycamore tree near the driveway. I knew it was something I hadn't seen before. Strange looking creature with hawklike markings but the shape of the head and beak was so odd. I took probably 70 pictures full out on my 55-250 Canon lens but couldn't do any better than this. It was frustrating.

Anyway, after sending a few shots off to my good friend and resident DGrin expert bird identifier Stephen (Maestro), he told me I had found an elusive common nighthawk. I did some searching then on DGrin which always brings up much better photos but there were only a couple of posts and one was from Stephen who spotted one of these dudes a couple of years ago.

So, not because they're good shots but because it's a fairly rare occasion to even be able to photograph a nighthawk, here are a few I came up with after heavy crops and a lot of lightening.

For size comparison this first shot is not cropped and shows a cowbird below the nighthawk.











Thanks for lookin' in,

Bud

Ric Grupe

Time to get that 100-400, Bud!

Nice catch.:D

dlplumer

Very cool set Bud.

Bud1880

Ric Grupe wrote:

Time to get that 100-400, Bud!

Nice catch.:D

Thank Ric. Uh...about that 100-400, twould be nice but since I'm one of those retired on Chrysler's dime well....things are just a bit shaky at the moment.:D Still fun even if I can't see what I'm shootin'.

Bud1880

dlplumer wrote:

Very cool set Bud.

Thank you Dan. I'd still be thinking I got a screech owl if not for our friend Stephen. Pretty cool nonetheless seeing something you've never seen before.

Bud

dlplumer

Bud1880 wrote:

Thank you Dan. I'd still be thinking I got a screech owl if not for our friend Stephen. Pretty cool nonetheless seeing something you've never seen before.

Bud

That's why he is the maestro