One time when Toby was thumping, it turned out that one of my hamsters had gotten loose! I think he was watching the ham-ham, too! As soon as I turned on the light and went to see what Toby was doing, he started looking towards the hamsters and scratching near their cage. I looked over, there was a little hamster scampering across the floor!
He tends to nibble/pull on his cage bars before a pressure front comes through, too. I can gauge how my head is going to feel (I get headaches from pressure/weather fronts) by how often Toby pesters me at night!