Another Common Nighthawk whizzes past, taking a quick glance downward at the dude sitting in the grass. For those who love stats, I spent approximately 1 hour 20 minutes trying to focus track them, shot 260 frames, and ended up processing 11. That's a very low hit rate... but does it matter how many bad ones I shot? I think not.

I try to enjoy them while they are present; their time on these northern breeding grounds is brief, only a few weeks. By mid-August they'll leave. Declining populations are a concern. Recent GPS tagging shows that nighthawks tagged in Alberta travel as far south as central Brazil to spend the winter, and earlier sightings have placed some in northern Argentina - a long, long migratory flight!

Photographed in the Frenchman River Valley, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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I realized when assembling the next few uploads that I have a new series going, "Birds On Blue". Nothing especially complex or esoteric about this; summer's here and we are seeing a lot of blue skies. In the final shot the background will be water, but I'd bet that most people who don't read my narratives will mistake it for sky...

As for degree of difficulty, birds in flight are never easy, and the Common Nighthawk's flight is both swift and erratic, with sudden cuts and turns as it alters course to snatch an insect from the air. There must have been a recent hatch that day, because I had about two dozen nighthawks swooping and gliding and wheeling above a large pasture, and they were obviously having success because it went on for some time. I sat at the edge of a ditch - NOT in the rolling red Toyota blind. The action was nonstop for more than half an hour. What fun!

Photographed in the Frenchman River Valley northwest of Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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I'm rushing around this week preparing for a camping trip to the Rockies: sorting through piles of gear, baking homemade crackers and processing garden tomatoes into marinara sauce, picking up supplies. A couple more posts and then I'll be gone until late September.

Meanwhile, this Common Nighthawk, one of my favourite birds of summer. Despite its smallish bill, that mouth opens wide: it is enormous, perfectly adapted for catching insects on the fly. So to speak. It's booming call, often made while swooping low, is one of the great prairie sounds.

I often see them on fence posts, so when I spotted this one along a backroad, using a natural perch, I had to stop. Made a few shots from the car. Slipped out the far side, keeping low, and slipped into the ditch. Then up the grassy bank. Moving slowly, feigning disinterest, as did the nighthawk. Sleepy bird; it barely opened its eyes. Most of my photos show closed eyes, but by talking softly to it, I did get a few shots that included a catch light. This wasn't my closest shot, but I like the surrounding elements a lot. When I drove away, it was still perched on the old branch. This is the best kind of encounter - when I don't disturb my subject and alter its behaviour.

Photographed south of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, just outside the boundary of Grasslands National Park. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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With the temperatures soaring into the high 30s°C (100°F+/-), I decided to take an A/C drive in the evening and see what I could see. My first stop was five minutes from town, when I spotted this Common Nighthawk on a fence post.

I got out of the car and did my best casual approach, in the open, focusing my attention on some butterflies in the ditch. The nighthawk watched me. At this distance, it looked about to fly, but it didn't, and when I drove away it was still at rest. No one wants to fly in heat like that.

Nighthawks are in the Goatsucker family, which includes nightjars and whip-poor-wills. They have extraordinarily wide mouths for catching insects out of the air, and have surprised me many times by swooping low and unleashing their booming call, a startling sound emanating from such a small bird. Just yesterday evening I was sitting outside with some friends after supper when a nighthawk zig zagged through the air right above our heads, off on its nightly rounds. They always bring a smile.

Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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Although it's called a "nighthawk", this little goatsucker isn't a hawk, and is often seen in broad daylight (and come to think of it, it has no connection with goats, either, except in ancient superstition). Instead, it's closely related to the Whip-poor-will and other nightjars.

Now that these misconceptions have been cleared away, I really have little to say about this photo. Several nighthawks were gliding and wheeling above me, catching insects out of the air. I tried to track them in flight; almost impossible. But I did get lucky with a few shots - very few - and this is the best of the lot. The white throat indicates that this is an adult male; females have buffy throats.

I'll never forget an evening during one of my photo workshops. We were hiking back to our vehicles when a Common Nighthawk swooped down toward us from behind and let go with its LOUD, startling, booming territorial (or courtship) call. We all jumped. For several of us it was the highlight of the day.

Nighthawks are among the last migrants to arrive on the northern prairie in spring, and the first to leave, usually in mid-August. They winter in southern South America, an amazing journey. Their breeding range extends into the Yukon and Northwest Territories in western Canada, and Labrador in the east. Like many prairie birds, their numbers are declining, quite likely for similar reasons: habitat loss and widespread pesticide use in agriculture.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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