Nightjar Walk at Budby Common

Despite the awful weather, my dad and I went along to the Nightjar walk at Budby Common, which was organized by Notts Birders. The weather had been awful throughout most of the day with thunderstorms in the afternoon and serious flooding in nearby counties. This had put most birders off, and only four cars turned up - including the guide's! We ended up a group of 7, considerably less than last year's 50+! At least three of us had not seen a Nighjar previously, hence our determination. As we set off, the weather was beginning to clear, and even some blue sky appeared.

Along the first trail we had a Jay and a couple of Willow Warbler; one of which was swiftly taken by the Jay. A Yellowhammer was singing in the adjacent field, and moths began to emerge, which was a good sign for the Nightjar. Further along the trail to Hanger Hill, we saw more Willow Warbler, several Tree Pipit and Linnet, and heard a Blackcap and juvenile woodpecker.

We went over a gate onto the MOD land in the search for Wood Lark, and saw a few at the tops of trees, and a singing male. More Tree Pipit were around, with a pair on adjacent fence posts, and a male Kestrel was hunting over the heathland. A Red-legged Partridge was crossing the cattle grid at the far end of our path before we headed into the woodland. We heard a bird calling that sounded like a 'squeaky gate', which the guide told us was a juvenile Long-eared Owl, and that if we we quiet, we might locate it further along the track. We continued down the track until we were approximately parallel with the bird, which was still calling. After a minute or so, my dad was the one to locate the bird on the branch of a tree about 70 meters from the path. It was a great moment for me, because I've not had much luck with owls; my third ever owl sighting being this one. We got everyone on to the bird and watched it for a few more minutes before heading back down towards the Nightjars, which should have been starting to appear.

The pine forest adjacent to the path had been scalloped for the purpose of attracting species such as Nightjar, and one of the clearings was a known site. As we approached I glimpsed a small wader silohette flying over us and calling, which the guide told us was a Woodcock (my first definite sighting of the species) and it would be back around again in a few minutes! We were told by the guide that the Nightjar would appear any time soon and fly about before landing in a birch tree in the centre - quite a precise prediction really! One of the more-experienced birders in our party located the bird on a branch of a pine tree close to the birch, which was pretty remarkable considering the failing light and the fact it looked like a small grey branch amongst all the others. No sooner had I got onto the Nightjar, it took off and displayed for a couple of minutes before disappearing behind the trees. Although I'd seen and read of the white wing patches before, it never dawned on me how obvious they'd actually be until I saw it in person - really impressive. Whilst waiting, a pair of Woodcock flew over calling, apparently displaying, and were then seen repeated right up until we left.

The Nightjar reappeared a few minutes later, but it wasn't long before it descended into the scrub showing the probable location of its nest. The guide, who worked for Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, was monitoring the Nightjars and therefore went to locate and examine the nest. Unfortunately nothing was found, and he informed us later that there was a good chance that the nearby Tawny Owl had taken any young. (We could hear at least one juvenile Tawny Owl calling from the trees at the edge of the clearing.) After that the Nightjar had settled in a tree and began to 'churr' or 'reel', which was extremely impressive. This lasted for a couple of minutes, (apparently it can go on for much longer), before it flew off to forage in the woods. Walking back to the car we heard another male beginning to 'reel' further away, but it was getting late. We thanked our guide for the excellent evening and talked with some of the other birders before setting off back home. A brilliant trip for both my dad and myself, with a few great life ticks for both of us.