Since mid May 2006 I have been seeing a Common Nighthawk flying around the parking lot at
work. I don't remember seeing them in the daytime before, mostly at night at football
games where they hawk insects around the lights. They were referred to as Bull Bats, with
their larger size and distinctive white wing bars.

On Wednesday someone came up to me to report an injured bird in the field by the parking lot.
It turned out to be the common nighthawk that was feigning injury to distract people from the
nest. After 5 minutes of searching, I was able to find two eggs in the "nest".
There is no nest, just a spot on the ground where the eggs are.

I have staked off the area so that nobody will accidentally disturb the nest and hopefully
she will be able to hatch the eggs. It takes 16 days for the eggs to incubate and I am guessing
these were laid around May 25th. Once they hatch it is another 21 days before they fledge.

Keep your fingers crossed for the family, its a long way to go.

I'll add photos as they progress.


May 24th - First noticed bird in the area
May 31st - Report of injured bird
June 1st - Discovered the nest, staked it off, took photos
June 5th - She is still sitting on the eggs
June 8th - Still sitting, got the lawn maintenance people to not mow near the nest
June 10th - No hatchlings yet. It was 99 degrees yesterday, at least 120 in the sun
June 12th - Still sitting, waiting for the wind and rain from hurricane Alberto - hang on!
June 13th - Survived the night, drenched but still sitting - incubating at least 14 days
June 17th - Checked Saturday afternoon and she was still sitting - 18 days now, hope they are fertile
June 19th - Not on the nest all morning, returned around noon - doesn't look good
June 21st - Has not been on the nest in two days - the eggs are not going to hatch. Too bad, she worked so hard, never leaving despite the traffic, heat and tropical storm Alberto. Maybe the eggs were not fertile or the heat and rain were too much. I'll keep looking in case she tries again in the area.