Nightjars, Woodcock, White Stork and a Peregrine!

 The four birds in today's title were all seen in the last 24 hours in my home county of Derbyshire!

The first bird, Nightjar (170), was seen last night. Unfortunately, it was quite cool and breezy, but we (Jayne and I) did manage to see and hear 2-3 birds. Whilst out and about, we also saw 5-6 Woodcock, a singing Whitethroat, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Song Thrush, Garden Warbler and Blackbird.

The next two species, White Stork (171) and Peregrine Falcon, were seen today. The White Stork, an unringed bird, was found, this week, in Hatton, near Derby. We drove across this morning, and were very lucky to get great views (c.50m away), as it fed in a farmer's field.

White Stork

The Peregrine Falcon was seen later in the day.

Peregrine Falcon

Knepp Estate - 27th May 2024

 Today, Jayne and I went to the Knepp Estate, which is a large rewilding scheme, here in Sussex. We went to see the reintroduced White Storks (172), which now breed on the estate, as well as a couple of other key species: Turtle Dove (171) and Nightingale (173).

We walked around the 10km red route, and managed to see the three target birds. The first birds seen were the Turtle Doves. We managed to spot two birds, possibly a pair, sitting in a tree by the first treetop viewpoint, and I got a couple of half decent photos.

Turtle Doves (nearly!)

A bit better!

Shortly after these views, we saw our first White Storks, a distant view of a pair on a nest. We also saw another pair, with two young, and managed to get some photos (taken from a very safe distant and heavily cropped).

White Storks

The third species, Nightingale, wasn't so cooperative, but we did manage to hear at least 2 singing - a fantastic sound.

Whilst walking around the site, we also recorded many other species, including: Whitethroat, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Song Thrush, Wren, Jackdaws, Crows, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Blue and Great Tit, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Buzzard, Red Kite, Fallow and Red Deer, Grey Squirrel, a vole species, a grasshopper sp, 2 Small Heath butterflies, 2 Mother Shipton moths and a male Beautiful Demoiselle!!

Beautiful Demoiselle