NIGHTJAR WATCHING

One of the treats of summer is a night out ‘Nightjarring’. Head out to a known site, such as a heath or well-known woodland edge with open country, and wait and listen. The key is to realise that Nightjars only really start to get active (and sing) just when you are thinking it is never going to happen and the crepuscular gloom is on the turn to real darkness. Some claim you should wave white handkerchiefs around, but this seems wishful, bordering on daft. Theories that the hankies look like giant moths or the white wing flashes of rival Nightjars appear to be a tad far-fetched… The continuous, purring, trilling song of the Nightjar, known as ‘churring’ is one of the great sounds of all British birds. Once heard, never forgotten.