Hi Angus: You raise a bunch of good questions and we have few answers. We're not sure what it is about the Stone Bridge/Setauket Mill Ponds that make them such a productive place to see nighthawks. I suspect there are a few micro and macro factors to explain the site's productivity.
As for the micro: 1) The two elongated ponds seem, in late summer through early fall, to produce an impressive hatch of aerial insects which obviously attracts nighthawks, swallows, and swifts once they get near. On many nights of the watch, toward dusk, we'll see upwards of a dozen or so nighthawks circling low over the ponds actively feeding (I've seen them skim the water a few times to drink). 2) The sight lines from the Stone Bridge are impressive. You can see north into Conscience Bay, good views to the east, fair views to the west, and very good vantage points to the south. That much open sky over wetland habitat may play a role in our ability to see and count the birds. Regarding macro: 1) We suspect that the site is simply well located for a general west- and southbound movement of nighthawks. I think the birds fly across the Sound with no problem, being such strong fliers and the fact that even over LI Sound there is probably ample food for nighthawk in the form of small insects. But rather than continuing south across the island, once they hit the north shore, they generally follow the LI Sound shoreline in a westerly direction, breaking south/southwest across the island at some point further west than Setauket, before exiting the NYC metro area. While its anecdotal, a few times I've been further east (most recently at Paul Adam's now closed hummingbird sanctuary in Riverhead)) and have watched a half dozen to a dozen or so nighthawks flying west along the top of the bluffs (perhaps taking advantage of the deflecting currents from the bluff face). For 35 years I lived in Massapequa Park (south shore of Nassau County) and if I saw half a dozen to a dozen nighthawks a year in the fall it was a good season. And while there are occasional reports of birds in the middle and south shore of Suffolk County it seems most of the sightings take place along the north shore. So what I think may be going on is: nighthawks fly across the Sound to the north shore and then move west, building in obvious abundance as they do. This would explain why nighthawk concentrations aren't especially noted along the North Fork but do become meaningful futher west. Jim Clinton once ran a nighthawk watch for years in Wading River (I believe)....if we could get his data it would prove helpful. If additional nighthawk watches were established in other LI locations or we could monitor specfic birds during fall migration we might get a more complete picture as to what is going on. As for how long an individual bird stays around, we don't know for sure but I suspect its for a short time of a day or so. The later arriving birds feed and then probably roost in the woodlands near the ponds and head off the next day. So......there's a lot we don't know but it is fun trying to figure it out. John Turner > On August 29, 2020 at 9:30 PM Angus Wilson <oceanwander...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I've always been impressed and puzzled by the remarkable number of > nighthawks recorded in early fall year from the Setauket Mill Pond area. > Nowhere else on Long Island has numbers anywhere close to this. In fact, > single-digit counts are the norm elsewhere except perhaps a few spots that > are also close to the north shore of the island. I'm curious to know what > aspect of the geography might explain this disparity? I would have guessed > that south-bound migrants are reluctant to cross the full width of the Sound > and perhaps make shorter jumps via Fisher's and Plumb Islands, mirroring the > preference of several hawk species. However, that would predict large counts > on the North Fork, which I'm unaware of. Alternatively is there something > about the ponds and woodland of Setauket that is uniquely attractive to > migrating Nighthawks? If the attraction is good rooting and feeding > prospects, is there evidence that the birds counted on a particular evening > remain in the area a night or two, or do they inevitably move on? Finally, is > there any evidence of significant numbers on other north-facing extensions > into Long Island Sound such a Eaton's Neck or Caumsett? > > Angus Wilson > New York City > > On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 8:42 AM TURNER < redk...@optonline.net > mailto:redk...@optonline.net > wrote: > > > > > > We had a banner evening with 351 nighthawks passing by the watch, > > making it the 2nd highest daily total we've ever recorded. We had a kettle > > of about 130 birds circling above us at one point. Many swallows and swifts > > and even some laughing gulls were feeding on the insect swarms above us. > > > > John Turner > > > > > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > Rules and Information > http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > Archives: > The Mail Archive > http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > Surfbirds http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > ABA http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 > Please submit your observations to eBird http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ ! > -- > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
