Last night, I spent two hours with the RSPB surveying Nightjars and Woodcocks. We started out from the car park at around quarter to nine, and I patrolled the stretch of path between the small pond and the first crossroads on the path from the car park to the Decoy Pond. At first, it was very quiet, except for a Herring Gull that flew over, followed by a Grey Heron which went in to roost in the woods nearby. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling loudly from the car park direction, and a male Whitethroat was preening itself on a silver birch sapling close by. Only once it became reasonably dark did the Nightjars start churring, and after that they started up from all directions, some churring for long periods of time. Whilst checking the next compartment, at least two Pipistrelle Bats appeared from nowhere, flying so close to me, and almost hitting me. Returning to the main path again, a dark shadow of a bird suddenly flew up from the heather close by the track. It then disappeared into the gloom, but minutes later, presumably the same bird circled round the trees directly above me, before landing on a branch well out of sight, and starting to churr very loudly. I walked closer, in order to attempt to see the bird, and accidentally flushed it. Whereupon, it flew across to a tree with a bare branch exposed, and perched there, in full view, and churred for a short period. Sure enough, that was the best Nightjar I have ever seen, despite doing the same survey last year. I almost wished that I had brought my camera, but it probably would have been too dark. Other surveyors were not so fortunate, either not seeing one, or not seeing or hearing one. I did not have any Woodcock on the area I was surveying, but several other people did either see one or hear one.
Today, I went for a walk around the reserve. Highlights included a Spotted Flycatcher by the Decoy Pond, and a pair of Turtle Doves at Park Corner.
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