Friday 24th July 2026: Nightjar hunting

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 We normally visit local heathlands to search for nightjars in June, but with other family commitments and holidays, time had drifted by. Now we felt we really ought to be getting on with the job, or we would miss our opportunity. The family, who had never heard churring Nightjars, were keen to come along, and we invited our ‘bird magnet’ Bernie, to join us and share his expertise.

We chose to visit Lavington Common, a reliable site for Nightjars, meeting at 8.30PM. We started with a short walk on the common, where we found Stonechat and a somewhat distant but distinctive family of Dartford Warblers, with long tail clearly evident as they moved through the bushes. A new bird for the family, who were delighted! A yaffling Green Woodpecker was heard but not seen.

Next we crossed the road to the Plantation, taking a track down the slope to the bottom of the common. We quickly heard churring Nightjars, with sound coming from different directions indicating more than one bird. Suddenly one anppeared and circled the area before dropping out of sight amongst the bracken. This pattern continued, with birds churring, and frequent fairly short sightings, providing lots of interest and momentum for our young birder. With so many birds seen dropping down, we wondered if they were feeding young. It was certainly a memorable evening and very much enjoyed by all.

Lavington Common

Waiting for Nightjars

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