74 people attended our Nightjar evenings (Wednesday to Saturday) at Broadwater.
Unfortunately it has been a very difficult year for Nightjars, not just at Broadwater Warren, but across the South East. The weather extremes seem to have affected their migration from Sub-Saharan Africa, and those birds that did arrive seem to be finding it difficult to find food and a mate. There's a general feeling that Nightjars have this year lost confidence in the traditional English summer
These unseasonal Atlantic depressions also hampered the week itself. The evenings were cool and mostly very windy. Our Thursday evening event had to be cancelled due to the heavy rain.
Only one Nightjar was seen in flight and heard churring at Broadwater. Not long after 10 pm with "cu-leek' and wing clapping, a Nightjar performed a flypast and later churred for 5 - 10 minutes before abandoning the idea of any further efforts.
Despite this challenge, most visitors reported having an enjoyable time. We saw roding Woodcock, and heard the lovely songs of Song Thrush, Blackbird, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Yellowhammer and Robin. We also saw bats and identified them (using our bat detectors) as Pipistrelles. And right at the last minute, when we were about to leave on Saturday night, a glowworm lit up in front of the assembled group and glowed happily for everyone to see.
Wildlife Explorer, Ben Green, got up close to capture this lovely emotive photo
Thank you to everyone who came along and to the RSPB volunteers who helped. We hope our weather is more stable next year and we have more Nightjars to show everyone.