Last week my husband and I joined a group of RSPBers out on Heyshott Heath – a part of the greater South Downs landscape – to do a nightjar survey. We all met early evening with picnic baskets, bug repellent and binoculars in hand. Can’t start an evening survey without a nice picnic on the heath first! And we couldn’t have asked for a more lovely evening... clear skies with a beautiful sunset forming, a warm breeze and the symphonic song of a woodlark to set the mood.
Not a natural birder myself, nightjars are one bird that have captivated me – migrants from sub-Saharan African, they fly thousands of miles to set up nests on our heathlands for the summer. They have great big eyes (they remind of the large liquidy cow eyes I grew up with on my parents’ farm!) and the males loudly clap their wings above and below their bodies when defending their territory! They only come out at night (dusk til dawn) and you hear them before you see them...
The sun has just set and twilight is quickening... aside from our hushed voices, the heath is completely silent – even the breeze has died down. Then all of a sudden we hear it! A soft churring from across the heath towards the edge of the woods. How close is it? We can’t be sure, so we continue to listen, cupping our ears to catch the elusive churring better. Before long the churring stops and the bird takes flight, alighting in a distant tree.
We decide to take the footpath a bit closer, hoping to entice the naturally curious bird to investigate us – and so get a closer look at him ourselves! Slowly, quietly we head back down the path. My husband and our nightjar ‘guide’ for the evening are engaged in excited whispers and oblivious to the sudden scrufflings in the bracken just ahead of us.
My first thought was: This definitely isn’t a nightjar! And, originally coming from the States, my second thought was: There aren’t any bears or mountain lions here, so what can this be?! :-) I stopped the others and we only waited a few seconds before a badger popped its head out of the brush not 10 feet in front of us! My first!! Needless to say, he was more than just a little surprised to see us, and quickly high-tailed it in the other direction!
Extremely excited at our luck, we continued down the path, to be met a few minutes later by a very curious nightjar. He gracefully, softly swooped in our direction – giving us a lovely view of his angular wings – and took roost in a nearby tree. My first badger AND my first nightjar! What an evening!
As we continued with our survey we were treated with a wonderful chorus of nightjar churrs, their vibrant hum filling the night air... and ended the evening with a feeling of awe at being a part of this delightful landscape, and a greater understanding of why places like these are so important to protect.