It’s members of the Nightjar family from August in Arizona! First up, Common Nighthawk, high over Pinetop/Lakeside. Usually nocturnal, these birds sometimes migrate during the day = probably the case here:
Next up, Lesser Nighthawk at dusk in suburban Tucson, flitting about fast/erratically for catching insects. Very dark/tough photography conditions; these ‘no flash’ shots at fast shutter speed (to capture motion) + high ISO (sensor light sensitivity) = grainy/noisy. Still, came out better than expected, with the help of Photoshop auto colour correction + Topaz AI noise reduction.
ID tips: Best distinguished by placement of white wing bands – Common Nighthawk is further from the wing tip, by the bend in the wing, whereas Lesser Nighthawk is closer to the wing tip. Lesser Nighthawk also has white tail band + found mostly in the desert southwest.
Shots above were right at dusk; dark but manageable. Shortly thereafter, turned too dark for suitably fast shutter speeds, but here’s a couple ‘bat outline’ shots (species unknown):
And finally, illustrating night feeding species overlap, Lesser Nighthawk (left) + bat (right):
Coming up soon, the swans are back! (+ Dunlin, finally.)