[EBB Sightings] evening birding

Last evening Stephanie Floyd, Karen Marcus and I went to see the Lesser 
Nighthawks at Byron.  After a stop at Round Valley for dinner, we arrived at 
the east end of Camino Diablo thinking we were a bit late.  But after 
searching the skies and seeing some other birds, just before 8:30 PM we did 
have a Lesser Nighthawk flying fairly close to us, sometimes to the east of 
us and sometimes to the south.

In the same area we saw a California Quail, Red-tailed Hawks, Barn Swallows, 
Western Kingbirds, and there seems to be a Loggerhead Shrike nest in the 
bamboo-like thicket at the end of the short dirt section, which is the last 
stretch of Camino Diablo.  The sewer pond behind the chain-link fence is 
practically dry.  On the way out to the end of the road, we found a Western 
Kingbird which had a very thin and up-curved bill, definitely not a Kingbird 
bill.  Still, the bird looked healthy enough otherwise.

This evening I rode my bike from Walnut Creek to Danville, stopping briefly 
to visit Jean Richmond at her house.  The purpose of my ride was to attend 
"Hot Summer Nights" on the main street of Danville.  There were a number of 
very hot T-Birds of the 1955-57 vintage.

On the return trip, I stopped at the Rudgear Road overpass looking for 
White-throated Swifts.  I did not see any during my brief pause, but there 
are plenty of Cliff Swallows nesting on the east side of the northbound 
overpass.

Hugh B. Harvey