Nightjarring

I don't think that I have many annual rituals, but each summer I like to try and find the time to do two things. Swim in the sea between the dunes on Brancaster beach and Scolt Head Island and lie on my back listening to the Terns as they fly overhead. And spending at least one Summers evening down on Dersingham Bog as the sun sets and the light fades from the sky to look for Nightjars and listen to their Churring and buzzing song and wing clapping displays.

Nightjar, Dersingham Bog

Like most landscapes be they the London parks I used to birdwatch in as a kid, or the Norfolk coast and countryside that I live in now, Dersingham Bog takes on a wilder more natural air as darkness descends and people fade out of the landscape.

As I pull up and park in my usual spot and notice that the cars thermometer says it is still 17.5 C at. 9pm, I expect it will be midgy and quietly regret my lack of insect repellent.

The walk down onto the bog takes me through a tunnel of conifers and Rhododendrons, then along the edge of an ancient cliff with a view over the top of a carpet of conifers out to The Wash. I can see a couple hanging around the boardwalk and another trio of birders further along the path. Figuring that I might have to wait up to an hour for the Nightjars to appear I decide to make use of the time and walk out along the undulating and twisting sandy path that skirts the edge of the bog. At 9.37 I hear my first churring Nightjar its song carrying to me from the far side of the bog. Then a Gropper starts to reel away out of view but much closer to me. The distant Nightjar goes quiet and I enjoy another  ten minutes strolling further out across the Bog. Then at about ten to ten they start in earnest, I hear wing clapping and churring and a couple of birds fly over my head chasing each other. The churring to my left is really loud and I eventually pick out a Nightjar on a horizontal pine branch maybe twenty feet away.

Nightjars, Dersingham Bog

The light is fading fast now and I crank up my camera too its highest ISO setting. The flight shots aren't great but I get some OK images of a perched bird. A different call draws my attention to a couple of Woodcock flying over the trees.

Heading back the way I came I try and figure how many Nightjars I've seen or heard and guess somewhere between 10 and 15 birds, as I chew on this pleasing thought, a Tawny Owl starts to call from the edge of the Woods. A quick loop of the Boardwalk yields a brace of bright green Glowworm bums. Back up the hill to the sound of Nightjars and the scent coming off the bracken leaves seems more intense in the dark. Back in my car I give the Midge bites around my neck a good scratch and head home.