A Not so Common Nighthawk in Northern Ireland 10th October 2019

I was birding in Shetland on Monday the 7th of October when news broke of a Common Nighthawk being found in Northern Ireland, frequenting a horse field near a place called Galgorm which is two miles west of Ballymena in Co Antrim and but half an hour's drive from Belfast International Airport. 

This bird may be common in its normal breeding range in northern North America but is decidedly a very rare bird here in Britain with but 22 previous records in Britain and 2 in Ireland.

I thought about it and as I was due to leave Shetland on Tuesday mulled over a vague plan to maybe drive from Aberdeen, where the overnight ferry from Shetland docked, to Stranraer and take another ferry to Northern Ireland.

I decided against this as it was just too much to organise and put the whole affair to the back of my mind. Mark, a twitching colleague then contacted me on Tuesday and asked if I was going for it and sensing my lack of enthusiasm as we discussed the situation suggested that instead of driving via Stranraer on my own I could fly with him from Luton, near where he lived, to Belfast and be back the same day, having hopefully seen the bird.

In the meantime I had been contacted by another birding friend, Paul, who lives near me in Oxfordshire and who was also keen to go. I asked Mark if he had any objections to Paul coming with us if we went and he said he had no problem with that so in the space of a day there was potentially three of us keen to go and see the nighthawk. It would be good fun and I became much more positive in my outlook.

Now fired with a new found enthusiasm it did not take long for me to agree to Mark's plan as it is always nice to travel to twitches with company but we agreed to wait before booking flights and see if the nighthawk was still there the next morning, Wednesday, when I was due to make the long nine hour drive home from Aberdeen. 

It was and driving south I stopped at Tebay Services and spoke to Mark. I listened on the phone as he sorted out our tickets on the internet and in half an hour the three of us were booked on an Easyjet flight from Luton to Belfast, leaving at 7am on Thursday.

I was not going to get much sleep after I got home as I would have to be up at two am to pick up Paul who lives nearby and then drive for another two hours to Luton to rendezvous with Mark.

Thankfully Mark's organisational skills worked perfectly and on arriving at his house in Luton at around 4.30am we awaited a taxi to take us to the airport which duly arrived on time and then we proceeded through the security hell that is now standard if you wish to travel anywhere by air.

A coffee revived us in the departure area and then we crammed onto a very full plane and an hour later landed in Belfast that, despite the Easyjet captain's cheery weather forecast of sun, was in fact awaking under grey clouds that were threatening rain at any moment.

We were, however, relatively relaxed as the nighthawk had already been posted on RBA (Rare Bird Alert) as still being in its regular field this morning The car hire was a formality, again courtesy of Mark, and within half an hour we were following the satnav in a nice new car to an audience with a Common Nighthawk. I could hardly wait as this was a bird I had waited a very long time to see in Britain.

Common Nighthawks are very rare in Britain with this being the twenty third if accepted which it will be. This particular nighthawk was first noticed by a fly fisherman as it flew up and down the River Maine which borders the horse field and was thought to be a late European Nightjar hunting insects at dusk.   Subsequent examination of photos of the bird revealed it was in fact a Common Nighthawk and various unsubstantiated reports intimated that it had been present for up to three weeks, which if true would be unprecedented. Birders began to take a much closer interest and consult ferry and plane schedules to Belfast from mainland Britain.

Common Nighthawks are summer migrants to most of northern North America and have one of the longest migrations of any North American species, covering anything from 1600-4200 miles from their breeding grounds to wintering areas in southern South America, and on migration they travel in loose flocks both by night and day.

They are still relatively common in summer in the USA but being a ground nester are vulnerable to predation by ground predators such as cats and rats and habitat disturbance. I can recall them in a small town in Minnesota many years ago. flying at night over flat roofed buildings, where they roosted during the day. 

We arrived at the field in question, which was made obvious by the presence of three birders looking up into a large Ash tree. We followed a muddy path across the wet field, wading through thigh high nettles, thistles and rank grass with the river on our right. 

Crossing a small bridge over a wet ditch we joined the birders who pointed up to a branch in the Ash tree where a hunched shape morphed, via my binoculars, into a Common Nighthawk, roosting lengthwise along the branch in classic nightjar fashion. It was as straightforward as that.

We walked around trying to find the best angle to take photos and once happy, settled down and clicked away with our cameras. Sadly there was no sign of any sun and we made the best of the grey conditions and wind shaken leaves around the nighthawk which remained resolutely motionless on its chosen branch. 

Some Irish birders joined us which was a pleasure as invariably they are extremely friendly and hospitable and we chatted away underneath the roosting nighthawk.

Occasionally it would shuffle about and pick at an irritating feather, swaying in a gentle sideways rocking motion on its perch and half opening an eye but soon it would lapse back into stillness. After an hour it began to rain. This was forecast to last for most of the morning and then it would stop at around lunchtime. The nighthawk was going nowhere, that was certain, so we made enquiries about somewhere to go and get a late breakfast and were directed to Galgorm Castle Garden Centre which had a cafe and was but a couple of miles back up the road.

It was raining steadily as we entered the pleasant surroundings of the popular cafe and soon were tucking in to a magnificent breakfast with another coffee to keep us awake. Even in early October  Christmas had already arrived at Galgorm Castle Garden Centre, with artificial Christmas trees and the usual festive tat on show which I thought was somewhat premature.

Looking out of the window I could see it was still raining hard and steadily.We were in no hurry so chatted away. Our return flight was not until nine in the evening so we were here for the day despite the weather. On the way in I had noticed a mouth watering selection of cakes and pastries. I had been very good and manfully resisted such temptations but in the end both Paul and myself could contain ourselves no longer and returned to the counter, me for apple pie and Paul for lemon meringue with an obscene amount of cream to go with it. Both were,  of course, delicious. Forbidden fruit and all that!

Lemon Meringue Pie and Cream!

Sated we sat and chatted some more as the rain continued to fall remorselessly. We decided to  go back to the field and sit in the car until the rain abated but it was quite some time before the rain passed. When it did we went back through a now much muddier and wetter field to join some other local Irish birders and indulge in some further friendly banter. 

Mark, who is a very good photographer got friendly with a kindred spirit in the form of a serious Irish photographer and they commenced swapping lens and talking cameras whilst I clicked away contentedly

And so we stood in the field for another five hours, quite happy as other birders came and went. The nighthawk became, at various times, more active, moving its position  on the branch, preening and occasionally opening a sleepy eye to look around. It was always obvious when it was going to come to life as it would commence a gentle swaying of its body from side to side and then indulge in some feather maintenance. Possibly the soaking it had received in the rain had made some of the feathers waterlogged and irritating.

During its brief periods of activity it displayed some of its diagnostic characteristics, such as the white throat patch,  the large  white oval patch on each wing and the sub terminal white bar on its tail which indicated it was a male. 

Overall its plumage seemed darker and greyer than our more familar European Nightjar but this may have been due to the rain soaking the feathers. Its bill was tiny, even smaller than a European Nightjar but concealed an enormous mouth which it would open wide. like a trawler's net, when it flew in the evening to catch insects.

Common Nighthawk courtesy of Mark

Time passed not unpleasantly and the rain for the most part kept off apart from one heavy shower sending us into cover. The five horses in the field which had largely ignored us up to now began to take more of an interest as more birders arrived in anticipation of the nighthawk leaving its tree and commencing feeding. 

I stood on the river's bank. A clean river of dark, rich brown water which contained wild salmon and trout and chatted to a couple of local birders and an interested fisherman. 

A Dipper flew downstream, passing under the overhanging trees that were slowly turning to the colours of autumn. High overhead a lone Whooper Swan headed towards the coast and four Hooded Crows and many Jackdaws flew, in a now quite windy sky, to gather in distant trees prior to roosting.

A local lady arrived with free tea and biscuits.What a splendid gesture. Thank you Ireland.

We were all awaiting one thing and that was the time when the nighthawk would fly out from the tree and commence hunting insects. Previous appearances had been around six thirty to seven o' clock and, a little late, the nighthawk duly left the tree and flew at speed some way across the field and could be seen hunting over some distant trees. Birders who had seen it before said it always did this and then returned to fly low, up and down the river. By now there were some twenty birders lined along the river bank and we watched the nighthawk in silhouette, flying against the darkening sky. What a contrast to its lumpen immobility for all the  hours it had passed on its branch in the tree, for it now hurtled about the sky, the very embodiment of speed and agility

I was amazed at its feeding technique, far faster and erratic than our European Nightjar, swooping and turning with amazing dexterity and acceleration, behaving more like a small falcon, a Hobby sprang to mind, than a nightjar. Its long wings and slighty forked long tail no doubt facilitated its supreme flying ability. It came and went against the sky and then the grand finale was upon us, as in the failing light it hurtled up and down the river only feet away and just above the fast flowing waters of the river.What an exhilerating and wondrous experience to end a memorable day as this very rare bird sped back and fore, whizzing close past my head, displaying the large white wing patches that almost glowed in the failing light.

Truly a spectacle that I never thought I would see here in Britain.