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Hatteras Chuck-Will's-Widows
- To: Carolinabirds <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
- Subject: Hatteras Chuck-Will's-Widows
- From: Kent Fiala <fiala@ipass.net>
- Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 22:11:59 -0400
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
I spent the weekend on the Outer Banks, and I discovered that the area
around the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is a great place for observing
Chuck-Will's-Widows. Be there at two minutes after 8, when they start
singing, and you have enough daylight left for a chance to see them
without needing a flashlight. You're almost sure to see flying birds
and may be able to see a perched one. The birds are distributed around
the new parking lot that is right next to the new lighthouse location;
the best spot is at the furthest end of the lot.
On Friday night I stumbled across the birds by chance and was
fortunate enough to see a flying bird swoop in and land on a nearby
perch where I had a good but slightly obstructed view of it. Saturday
night I returned and was able to get a clear binocular view of a singing
bird for about a minute. As I have actually seen a Chuck only once
before, this was the highlight of my weekend (although the Herald
Petrels were nice too). Sunday night I returned yet again, determined
to go over the top and get a scope view of a singing Chuck, and I
succeeded in that too, for just a few seconds in fading light. All the
perched birds that I saw were around 2-10 feet off the ground on dead
snags about 2-4 inches in diameter. I should note that these nights
were around a full moon; singing behavior might be different on other
nights.
--
Kent Fiala
near Chapel Hill, NC