The nigthawk has flown the coop!

A group of folks stayed out on the hawk watch platform this evening at the Cape May Point State Park, in hopes of seeing the Lesser nighthawk in flight. Those out early enough were evidently rewarded with a nice flight of this bird circling the state park parking lot area and even close enough that some thought they were going to be hit by the bird.

One observer stated that the shorter tenth primary was evident on the bird in flight and that the flight style did not seem to match that of a Common nighthawk.

While I was not fortunate enough(that's what I get for trying to get one more quick thing done at work) to catch more then a two second view of the bird (two different seconds) in flight, I'd say if pressed that the flight style seemed to be to be different. Just remember that I only saw a fleeting glimpse and the brain can make you see what you want to see.

I did over hear Paul Lehman say that he liked the positioning of the white patch in the primaries.

Ultimately the bird flew toward it's roost area and disappeared. It was not seen flying again. By the way, this all happened around 4:45-5:00 or so this evening. We will most definitely get the word out if this bird should be relocated tomorrow. Other than that, it's a trip to the south west, hopefully with NJAS Eco-travel!