nightjar at 5.25pm tonight at the Woolooware wetlands - southern shore of Botany Bay, Sydney

["Bruce Roubin" <>]

G'day

I saw a small nightjar at 5.25pm tonight at the Woolooware wetlands, flying fast at about 8m overhead along the nearshore (to the Cpt Cook Dve entrance) heading NE.

It didn't hang around to feed here like the other one I saw and reported in late June 2001, but just did a couple of amazing jerky deviations from its direct flight to catch insects on the wing. Its wings were fluttering at maybe 3 beats per second, but apart from those things I couldn't catch any diagnostic features in the binos as it flew over in less than 30 secs..

It came from the swamp she-oak stand on the left bank, and headed along the peninsula.

This is the direction taken by the other one in 2001, which it did then after hawking insects for about 30 mins.

I searched around with a spotlight for this one tonight for another hour or so, esp. around the spotlights over the Sewerage Treatment works, but to no avail; there were plenty of moths flying about at the Woolooware wetlands.

I'll have another look for it before dawn tomorrow and perhaps tomorrow night (weather permitting, as tonight it was still and fine, but I believe the forecast is for rain late tomorrow).

 

Regards

Bruce Roubin