While driving through Vass, NC on the way home from a birding trip, I saw some large birds swooping and diving over a distant farm field.
As I got closer, I noticed the birds had a white patch showing through on their wings. It dawned on me that they might be common Nighthawks! I’d never had the opportunity to photograph one of these before so I quickly pulled over (read skidded off of the road and ripped my truck into the nearest parking lot haha!) , grabbed my camera and hopped outta the truck to get a better look.
As it turned out, they were indeed Nighthawks and there were a ton of them soaring over the grass hunting for insects. Photographing them was quite difficult as these guys move fast!
*Lol, check out the photo below see one flying upside down in a barrel roll!
Luckily I managed to grab a few decent shots which isn’t bad for a first attempt.
Nighthawks usually feed at dusk or dawn above open farm fields and in habitats containing open, dry areas of scrub brush.
I spotted this flock during the middle of the day which made this encounter kinda surprising.
They are voracious consumers of insects like beetles, butterflies, mosquitoes and grasshoppers and are particularly fond of eating termites and winged ant swarms when the opportunity arises.
As many as there were out here, I wondered if a large termite swarm had attracted them to this field.
These large members of the nightjar family spend the summer in North Carolina and will stick around until mid September. They are locally common in our coastal regions and may also be seen in the central part of our state in agricultural areas.
Aren’t they neat?!
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds
