August 31, 2026 · Franklin Falls Dam, Franklin
Nighthawks over Franklin
The late-August evening flight came right on schedule — a couple hundred Common Nighthawks working south down the Pemigewasset in forty minutes.
Got to the river overlook a little after six with maybe an hour of usable light. Nothing, nothing, and then at 6:40 the first birds — three, then a loose knot of a dozen, then a steady trickle for the next forty minutes, all pushing south down the valley.
Best count in any five-minute stretch was around fifty. Call it 220 for the evening, which is a solid Franklin number but nowhere near the four-figure flights this stretch has produced in the past.
They feed the whole way, so it isn’t a straight-line stream — birds peel off to chase something, twist back, drift across the river and back. The white wing-bar catches the low light. Two Common Green Darners went through with them, which felt appropriate: same evening, same direction, same reason.
Also present: a late Chimney Swift, one Great Blue Heron flapping upriver, and the first real cold in the air after dark this year.
Birds mentioned:Common Nighthawk