A few weeks ago I was excited to find my first Common Nighthawk after work one night.  I went back to look for more, and I found them!  Common Nighthawks are sometimes hard to find. They are most active at night, so during the day when I’d normally see them, they are usually asleep in a tree.  Their colors make them blend right into those trees!  I read on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website that they don’t even bother to make nests, because they blend in so well with their environment.  I also learned that Common Nighthawks are not yearlong residents of Florida – they come here for the summer only.  I know they have been spotted at the Circle B Bar Reserve upon occasion.

This area has a lot of farms, with lots of irrigation posts sticking up.  Perfect for the Common Nighthawks to sit on!  The sunlight that night was very pretty on the birds as the sun set behind me…

I take my wide-angle lens to this area because the open grassy region is so pretty.  But I also aimed the Beast at the setting sun and made some images as the sun slipped behind the grassy hills.  Sometimes telephoto lenses make for the most dramatic sunrises and sunsets.

The road is lined with a fence, with lots of fenceposts.  A fellow photographer alerted me to this Common Nighthawk sitting on the fence right next to the road. I didn’t figure that the bird would be there by the time I drove to the spot, but he was!  He just sat and posed as I aimed the Beast and took his picture.  It’s a much better shot than last week’s!