Maggie's Farm

I just got word from my migration
source that the Nighthawks are on
the move in New England, heading to South America for the winter. No longer as common as they once were in the Northeast, these aerial acrobats catch bugs on the wing and often nest on flat gravel rooftops.

Their falcon-like shape, their flight, their white wing-flash, and their loud beeping noise are easy diagnostics. They are seen as often in town as in the country - maybe more often in town, at dusk.

The photo, courtesy of P. LaTourette, obviously shows a perched nighthawk, but I have never seen one that was not flying. Read more about this bird here.