This afternoon I met Jo, one of my local Countryside Rangers, up on my patch to talk about a Nightjar walk I am helping with this coming Wednesday (17th).
It was really sunny and warm and a lovely day to be out and about and once we'd finished chatting I made the most of it and spent ages wandering round my patch, checking some reptile tins, making a note of the birds I saw/heard and using my phone to take some photos.
The highlights of my walk were watching an adult Robin get pestered for food by a juvenile, seeing a couple of sunbathing Lizards and butterflies on the boardwalk and enjoying the wildflower meadow which is just off the path I walked home on.
Here are my favourite photos from this afternoon (there's more text below the pics btw):
This evening I decided to head back to patch in order to check the pools quickly and to stay and see if the Nightjars were active. Unusually, I carried the scope with me when we headed for the Nightjars, something I don't usually do as it's usually too dark for it to be of any use, but I did, and it's a good job I did too!
We had almost reached the area we were heading too when something flew in front of us and landed on one of the fence posts up ahead. Despite the twilight making it difficult to focus, I instantly knew what it was - the shape is so distinctive and the two big white splodges!!
It was, of course a male Nightjar. It sat on one post, a fair distance away and then flew closer and landed on another post. I got the scope set up as quickly and quietly as I could and had a good look through and so did my dad, before I took some photos through it using my phone.
It was a really memorable encounter an definitely one that will stay with me for a long time to come!
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| European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) |
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