Haldon  Wednesday 19th July

A large group assembled for this popular field meeting when we hoped to see and hear the mysterious Nightjar.  Although there had been some showers of rain earlier, it was a dry evening.  Some of the group had arrived early as there had been reports of Turtle Doves having been heard the previous week, but no luck this time unfortunately.  Richard Swinbank was guiding our group and, after a short introduction, he led us to a good vantage point with lovely views of the coast, and hopefully Nightjars too.

We were admiring the lights of Exmouth twinkling in the sea when, at about 9.15, we heard the first strange churring sound - better heard if the hands are cupped around the ears.  Then we had good sightings against the evening sky of 3 or 4 nightjars, the males distinguished by conspicuous white spots near the wing-tips.  Nightjars catch insects such as moths, and fly quite acrobatically.  One bird hung fluttering in the air several times whilst catching food.  Sometimes they flew very close, and you felt they were as curious about us as we were about them.

There was some added excitement when some of our group were illuminated by bright lights, showing eager faces examining the ground closely.  However, it turned out not to be an exciting discovery of some rare nocturnal beast, but that a piece of birdwatching equipment had been lost in the long grass.  As dusk turned to darkness, we turned back towards our cars and, part way along the track, we had a last, even more close-up view of two Nightjars making short flights from a perch in the top of a small conifer.  A lovely end to an enjoyable evening.

Pam Hancock