A Heathland Outing, Guided Birdwatching Trip Report

A summer evening on a West Sussex common proved fruitful with several memorable sightings. Starting around 3 hours before sunset gave us a good chance to see a number of diurnal species before the crepuscular and nocturnal birds awoke from their daytime slumber.

This is a sandy lowland heath habitat, with heather and birch scrub surrounded by scots pine trees, an unusual landscape that plays host to several interesting species. The first of these species to be sighted was a Dartford warbler, typically skulking and difficult to set eyes upon, we could nevertheless hear his distinctive dry-sounding vocalisations. A brief display flight gave an initial location. And with a bit of patience he was eventually spotted singing in the centre of a small birch clump. Male Dartford warblers have a splendidly rich plumage, a deep wine red underneath and a dark grey tinged with purple above. In attendance near the Dartford was a pair of stonechats. Much more confiding than the warbler, as is their nature.

Stonechat, male. 

Several species could be heard in the surrounding pine trees including a blackcap and bullfinches. Then at around 7 pm the unmistakeable sound of a churring nightjar started, a brief sign of things to come later on. A tawny owl could be heard calling, this continued for entirety of our visit.

Venturing into another clearing a further Dartford warbler could be heard. Then, atop a large pine was a chiffchaff and a stonechat; this was quite a lofty height for a stonechat! (Stonechats are typically found on top of small bushes and low vegetation.) A great spotted woodpecker worked its way up the trunk of the same tree, and eventually scared off the chiffchaff and stonechat. The woodpecker had staked claim to king, or queen in this case, of the tree.

Great spotted woodpecker.

But then, the sight of a Dartford warbler appeared in yet again the same tree! He was ascending the branches and no doubt telling the woodpecker to vacate the area. It was now the warbler’s turn to attain his zenith. Once at the very top of the tree he decided to sing, and he continued to do so for a long while. This enabled us an unusually protracted and clear view of this species.

Singing Dartford warbler.

A while later a shape on top of a branch caught our attention. It was a nightjar. With it still being over an hour until darkness, the evening light illuminated his expertly camouflaged plumage superbly. What a delight it was to be able to see this bizarre bird during daylight hours. Every bit of detail could be seen from the white wing patch, indicating a male bird, to the eyelids and the feathered whiskers around his beak.

Nightjar.

Naturally we spent quite some time admiring the nightjar. And when you spend time in one spot it enables you to see other things that you otherwise may have missed. In this case a bird caught my eye when viewing directly away from the nightjar, it was at the top of a dead tree and from a distance could have in fact been a part of the tree. Looking through the scope it was apparent that there was a bird there, and it was a delightful surprise in the shape of a spotted flycatcher.

Spotted flycatcher.

After a couple of minutes of watching it started doing the usual flycatcher thing, flycatching. They make regular brief flights to catch insects and often return to land on the same favoured perch time and again. This is a migratory species that has declined substantially in numbers throughout Britain so it is always reassuring to see. They don’t really have spots, just some light speckling, so the name is somewhat misleading. Their colours are predominantly in the grey range but they are quite attractive and endearing. There are many ‘grey’ birds that have beautifully elegant forms, and any purported lack of dazzling colours in no way reduces their visual appeal.

Spotted flycatcher.

Meanwhile the nightjar was still sitting motionless on his branch. He was so still that we couldn’t even detect any movement from breathing. But then a brief bout of churring showed that he was in fact now awake, after which all fell silent again. When, later on, a different nightjar started churring he then decided it was time to get up for the night. A quick stretch of the wings and tail and he was off flying around the heath.

Nightjar.

As it got darker the churring increased, around 6 nightjars were heard in total. Just before leaving a barn owl flew past low over the heath. Other birds seen during the trip included mistle thrushes, siskin, and coal tits. This was my first guided outing since the lockdown, and it proved to be a great day to get started again. If you are interested in attending a guided birdwatching session such as this one, the upcoming events can be seen on the ‘Events’ page of this website. Or to stand the best chance of a space being available, you can get the information emailed to you prior to its publication online by joining my mailing list. To do so simply email me at baggaleyhugh@gmail.com

Photos from this trip were taken and kindly provided by Les Phillips.

- Hugh Baggaley