So this evening was the first of several walks to illustrate the iconic and uniqueness of this much loved songster thoughout and up to the end of May the main singing period for the males as they establish their territories.
I set the dates early to mid winter not anticipating then the weather from the East earlier on in the year, which had a knock on effect on early arrival migrants.
I must admit to a little nervousness earlier on in the week as I hadn't heard a Cuckoo or a Nightingale, but I had seen Swallow, Sand and House Martin so things were looking up.
Wednesday mid afternoon I was asked by Adrian Thomas the National RSPB Coordinator for Nightingales to find some Nightingales around the Lodge Hill Complex as Channel 4 News wanted to do a live broadcast concerning this bird and Medway Councils plan to build thousands of homes on the SSSI protected site in Chattenden.
By the time the crew arrived at Strood Station we had found at least one/two singing males just into the ex arrmy camp just off the Willow tree roundabout.
So back to Thursdays walk, there were twenty one of us all told setting off about 7.15 up th Sweeney Viewpoint which gave me an opportunity to talk about Linda and Owen Sweeney and their dedication to wildlife though the RSPB, BTO and KOS.
Down to the dip to our first Nightingale hotspot Lipwell, where we listened to two males limbering up. Across the bridge and past the orchard we started to ascent Northward Hill on the way up males were throwing out random splashes of song.
At the top by the old panaramic signage two males were again chucking out hints of the iconic notes, so after a couple of hours we had to be content with a dress rehersal.
As compensation a male Cuckoo gave us a fine view of himself and his just as iconic song.
A keen eye spotted the unmistakably dumpy shape of a Little Owl perched atop a tall reed, an uncharacteristically precarious perch for such a bird.
And back to the car park for thank yous, a debrief, so maybe not quite the full songs we'd hoped for, but never-the-less some song, good views etc of the Cuckoo and the Owl.
I would like to thank Ruth of the RSPB and Des and Carol Felix and Daniel their Grandson and Warren Mann all from the Medway RSPB Local Group for their assistance.
The North Kent Marshes are a very special area and worth preserving at all cost.