[dc]W[/dc]hile roaming through the scrub a few days ago, my friend Aubrey and I flushed a Common Nighthawk off the ground.  These birds are a fairly common sight in some areas of Ocala National Forest, especially in the early morning and evening hours.  The nighthawk flew off, but unlike most other nighthawks I have flushed in the past, it came back and circled the area.  This bird obviously had a nest. I hadn’t seen exactly where she flew from, so I figured it would be nearly impossible to find her incredibly camouflaged 2 egg nest.  However just a few quick steps later, I was staring right at it.  The nest was a simple scrape in the ground, just a small depression where leaf litter had been brushed aside to reveal sand, which perfectly matched the color of the brown and beige mottled eggs.  The only evidence that a nighthawk had just been here was a small fluffy feather stuck on a nearby branch of myrtle oak. We only had Aubrey’s cell phone for a photo, but you can see how well the eggs blend in with the leaf litter and sand.
Common Nighthawk nest with 2 eggs (photo by Aubrey Sirman)
In Florida, Common Nighthawk numbers peak during the second and third weeks of September, as migrants head to South America for the winter. Â They won’t return until the last week in April.