Nightjars at Hockham, Norfolk 26 June 2025

On the evening of 26 June, myself, along with friends Darren Cowles, Sarah Lister, Bob Fleming, and Cathy and Nick Halfacre, visited a forest clearing to listen and watch Nightjars.  We arrived at our destination at 2020 and had just over an hour before sunset (2124) to watch for other birds and wildlife before the main event.  The evening was very warm following a hot day and the light was good.

With sufficient daylight remaining there was still plenty of opportunity to watch and listen to daytime species.  Upon our arrival Blackcap and Song Thrush were singing and within the clearing a Tree Pipit sang intermittently. A Whitethroat was seen in low ground covering scrub from where it gave alarm calls to warn its youngsters of our presence.  Several Yellowhammers were seen conspicuously sitting in treetops, at least two of these birds were males.  

Overflying birds included 3 Cranes silently passing over treetops and were silhouetted against the sky, a single Grey Heron over, and one Hobby seen passing overhead in a leisurely flight.  A single Cockchafer was seen.

At around 30 minutes following sunset, the strange mechanical sound of a churring Nightjar was heard intermittently, however, it wasn't too long before the fantastic song of this enigmatic species was heard almost continuously.  On one occasion a male Nightjar was seen very well as it flew around the top of a tall Birch in the clearing before alighting in the tree from where it began churring, the close proximity of the bird allowed us to fully appreciate this strange song as it was delivered in two distinct rising and falling pitches.  Having sung in the Birch for some time the Nightjar flew off emitting a strange whirring call along with the sound of a clear wing clap.  We were also lucky enough to see the silhouetted view of a second Nightjar passing by our group in a very silent, buoyant flight, and appearing very mysterious and fully befitting the folklore and legend which is associated with this stunning creature.   

I have often taken people out over the years to watch birds and often the experience has not lived up to what I hoped for, but on this visit to see Nightjars it was pleasing to see how excited our wonderful group was to see this enigmatic bird.