Saturday, June 18, 2011
A nightjar churred at noon
Well, to be exact, it was 12.30. We were eating our lunch on the edge of a clearing, and just had time to say "Nightjar!" to each other before the rain began. We retreated into the relative shelter of the trees while the wind blew and the rain poured down. Ten minutes later the sun came out and dried us off.
In the woods "tsee-chup" calls made me stop and look around, as this was a sound I didn't know; and I traced it to what I thought were spotted flycatchers. This bird settled for a while and we both viewed it through the bins, but it was really too dark for a useful photo.
We saw stonechats, tree pipits, treecreepers and one woodlark; and had some pretty good views of a pair of Dartford warblers. Chiffchaffs, willow warblers and blackcaps were singing in several locations. Making our way along the side of the danger area, I called out to Greger when a handsome male redstart alighted on the fence; but just as he turned round it flew off into a birch tree. He had only distant views of a female redstart, further along the fence.Several new species have recently been noted in the garden; this is, I believe, a Potter Wasp (Ancistrocerus trifasciatus) which predates the larvae of butterflies and moths.
I don't know if that includes this hairy beast, which is probably a caterpillar of the Knot Grass Moth, feeding here on Marjoram.
On Tuesday we went down to Hut Hill, ate our annual cheeseburger and then walked out into the forest with its burnt understorey. It wasn't dark but things started to happen almost at once, with a woodcock roding past uttering its sharp, squeaking whistle. A nightjar began to churr, and then I heard the clapping of wings as it displayed. Two birds came into view, flying right over us twice. We walked to another spot and heard at least two birds churring. The woodcock/s roded over squeaking several times. It grew rapidly darker; and walking back to the car park, Greger did well to spot a toad crawling across the track just ahead of us. This made me tread more carefully!
I learned about Hut Hill from Berks birders, and we've found it more rewarding than Chobham Common which was the first place we ever tried for nightjars. It makes an enjoyable dusk outing with nosh thrown in; although I always get the feeling that the Muzzy's chaps look down on their customers with a certain amount of disdain: "These English - why can't they cook their own blooming dinners?"
// posted by Christine @ 10:08 AM 
