Other than the mention of it on yesterday's Duluth RBA, nothing has been posted on mou-net about the very strong movement of Common Nighthawks through Duluth on 21 August. As mentioned on the RBA, the day's total was over 30,800, and I understand the exact total was 30,874. These were all counted by Karl Bardon from sunrise to sunset (despite an afternoon high of 88 degrees) from two sites: the main overlook at Hawk Ridge and the corner of 60th Ave East & Superior St.
There was also a total of 5,176 nighthawks counted the same day during 1.5 hours (5:40-6:10 pm and 7:15-8:15 pm) from the pedestrian bridge over I-35 behind the London Rd Perkins restaurant at 25th Ave East. However, it is presumed that most or perhaps all of these would be individuals seen by Karl and included in his total. This represents the second-highest total of Com Nighthawks ever documented in Minnesota. The largest flight recorded was 43,690 individuals counted on 26 August 1990 from the Lakewood Pumping Station in Duluth (see The Loon 63:68-69). Note, however, that this count was only during a 2.75-hour period, from 5:35 to 8:20 pm, and it is not known how many hundreds or thousands more had passed through earlier that day. All these numbers and comparisons aside, though, Karl is certainly to be commended for enduring the nearly 90-degree heat on the 21st to document this significant flight! Kim R Eckert ecker...@gmail.com http://www.mbwbirds.com ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
