We have heard next to nothing about nighthawk movements this fall, even though we are still in the later part of their migration. I searched reports on US lists, and find truly puny reports in many places. Ohio reports are next to none. I make it a point to look for them every fall (their spring migrations are a lot harder to observe), and this fall I've just seen a few small flocks, and mostly none. I hear there have still been some appreciable numbers moving north near the Lake in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but Ohio seems left out almost entirely this year. Has anyone seen more than a hundred in Ohio at once this year? Fifty? I used to, often. Sometimes bird populations shrink so slowly that it's easy to miss them, but nighthawks moving at dusk should be easy to count. There are a lot of beginners out there, and it's easy to lose a historical context, so here are some observations from my work on central Ohio birds concerning nighthawks that are beginning to seem already out of date: "Noticeably in decline as an urban nester here, and even in wilder spots in Canada. Wheaton (1882:384) said of their southbound migrations here 130 years ago that “thousands are sometimes seen,” and today large numbers--seldom in the thousands--are reported only occasionally....The highest twilight counts of fall movements usually come from late August-early September, and include a description of circle-soaring by “at least several thousand” over the OSU campus 9/3/1968, 3000+ on 9/3/1976, and 2500 on 9/3/1992. Later in fall, 224 were observed 10/3/2006. One entered the OSU campus’s main library on 10/22/1965. Record late was one lingering 11/20/1975 at High St. and Morse Rd." I hope these valiant birds will still be making their migrations to South America long after I'm gone, but I'm starting to worry. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]