'Three Churs & a clap'

On the evening of the 5th June I went along for the 'Three Churrs & a Clap' event; it was great! Together with 16 other visitors, plus members of staff and volunteers, we were gathered together to, hopefully, hear and possibly see Nightjars. For me this was quite exciting as the last time I encountered Nightjars was some twenty-odd years ago. We started the evening with a look at a large selection of live moths that had been kept back from a survey trap. This in itself was fascinating; I learnt more about moths in twenty minutes than I ever had before! This was followed by a walk through the treeline around the recently formed heathland area, where we encountered some Pipistrelle and other bat species. As the light faded, we heard the 'churring' of a male Nightjar. By the time we made it to the 'barrow' overlooking the heathland, there were three vocalising. Then it went quiet for a while until, suddenly, there was one in the trees right behind us. It was beautiful to listen too, but not visible. Then a pair flew right over us down to the heath. The guides pointed out their flight call, which was all around us, then one could be seen silhouetted on a branch about 30m away. It was 'churring' really loudly and we were all mesmerised by this. Finally, it took off and flew within 10m of us, calling and 'wing-slapping'. A fantastic end to a brilliant night. As a regular (daytime) visitor to Pulborough RSPB, I was fascinated to see the site in a completely different context. Many thanks to the staff and volunteers, with their friendliness and knowledge they made an 'interesting' visit into a brilliant one. It was great.