From twilight to sunrise, I watch the sky and I listen.
From sunset to dusk, I watch
the sky and listen.
But my sky has gone empty and
has gone quiet.
The nighthawks did not return
to my summer skies this year. I have
seen none in their quirky and veering flights as they pluck insects from midair. I have not heard their shrill calls or the
“booming” as they practice deep plunges from the heights.
I have nothing.
Last year, I saw only a
half-dozen nighthawks throughout the summer.
When I first settled into my
country home, the summer sky here regularly filled with dozens upon dozens of
nighthawks during the half-light hours bookending each side of the day.
For the last twenty years, nighthawks
have been vanishing from our skies at an alarmingly rapid pace. I am not alone watching empty skies.
Many years ago, I read articles
about this day coming. The reasons for the
sharp decline in nighthawk populations are many and, of course, there is a
human hand in the works here.
I find the silence frightening.
—Mitchell Hegman
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