Nightjar causes a stir at The Lodge

Wildlife lovers flocked to the rare sight of a Nightjar sunning itself in the summer heat at the RSPB's headquarters in Bedfordshire today [Thursday 4th June]. Despite its natural camouflage the bird was spotted napping on a tree trunk close to a path at The Lodge reserve near Sandy. The visit was welcome news for RSPB conservationists who have been working hard restore the Nightjar's favourite heathland habitat at the reserve. The Nightjar once again appeared on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern which was released last month.

Nightjar, Sandy, Bedfordshire (Photo: Ray Wright)

"It's absolutely amazing to see one of these so close up," said Peter Bradley, site manager at The Lodge. "They are typically very difficult to spot except at night when they start flying and churring. During the day they usually head up into the branches or into the bracken but they are incredibly well camouflaged so see one like this is very unusual indeed. They are very much a bird of the heathland — they need low scrubby vegetation and nearby woodland. They haven't bred here at The Lodge for more than 30 years and we have been doing a huge amount of work to restore the heathland here so this is a wonderful bonus for us."

Heathland once covered many parts of the UK but there are now only fragments of this valuable wildlife habitat left. As well as Nightjars it is also vital for other species such as Dartford Warblers, Small Copper butterflies and Natterjack Toads. In 2005 the RSPB began a heathland restoration project at The Lodge and bought 105 acres of land, doubling the size of the reserve, in an attempt to provide an important geographical bridge between the heaths of Hampshire and Surrey and the heathland of East Anglia.

Nightjar, The Lodge, Sandy (Photo: Grahame Madge)

Numbers of Nightjars in the UK have declined steadily since the 1930s due to loss of habitat but their population has seen a small recovery recently. There are currently 3,400 males in Britain in the summer and a further 30 in Ireland.