Hello! At about 7:45 PM this evening while hiking the pet trail at Highbanks, I observed approximately 150 to 175 Common Nighthawks swirling over the day camp area (where the red barn is located that is observed from Powell Road). I tried to count most of them but their swirling about made it difficult so my estimate of the total is conservative. I counted about 80-90 swirling about within a somewhat tight ball directly over my head in the sun light while another 50 or so were flying lower outside of the Nighthawk ball. After about 10 minutes, the ball loosely broke up and most of the Nighthawks flew to the southwest. At that moment, another 30 to 40 Nighthawks flew by directly overhead from the northeast heading southwest. After another few minutes, not a Nighthawk was to be seen. I wonder if anyone observed good numbers of Nighthawks in Columbus this evening. I feel very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time to observe this spectacle. Rob Lowry Powell, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]