My second Whinchat of the spring on Orcombe this morning. Also - presumably yesterday's Lesser Whitethroat singing from the same strip of hedgerow. Off Maer Rocks - 1 Common Scoter, 1 imm male Eider, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Turnstone, 1 fs Mediterranean Gull, c75 Black-headed Gulls and 12 Kittiwakes. Lots of auks moving way out in the bay. Mudbank was quiet with c30 Whimbrel, 1 Swift and a Red Kite which crossed the river heading east.
Whinchat and male Grey Wagtail.
Nightjar - just brilliant camouflage!
Stonechat - Woodbury Common.
Thanks for all those but especially for the nightjar.
ReplyDeleteSuch a "mysterious" bird, not to overlook their sound, either.
In one of his Natural History Letters, the great poet, John Clare ,
( 1793 - 1864) wrote this:
'The Fern Owl or Goat sucker or Night jar or night hawk......is a curious bird they are found about us in summer on a wild heath called Emmingsales & believe that is the only spot which they visit they make an odd noise in the evening.....one cannot pass over a wild heath in a summer evening without being stopt to listen & admire its novel and pleasing noise it is a trembling sort of crooing sound which may be nearly imitated by making a crooing noise and at the same time patting the finger before the mouth.......it is a beautiful mottld bird variously shadowed with the colours of black and brown.........' (don't let Clare's spelling, lack of punctuation or unfamiliar words put you off!)
He also wrote a poem ( just one of his many unforgettable "bird" and "birds nest" poems) ' The Fern Owls Nest '. If anyone is interested, the poem is in the public domain, online.
Many thanks Norfg37!
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