Sixteen members assembled in the car park to the song of chiffchaffs, blackcaps and a willow warbler but had only one thought in mind, a quest for nightingales. So we headed immediately for the hotspots. We heard the first at the top of the zigzag path but characteristically it stayed buried deep in the thickets; the same was true of a lesser whitethroat rattling in adjacent brambles. The next three nightingales were singing around the Fattengates courtyard but only one gave the merest glimpse as it flew between perches. The fifth near Little Hangar proved far more cooperative and and perched fully in the open. The sixth near the Hangar viewpoint remained out of sight as it sang briefly while the seventh showed itself in scrub near the junction down to Jupp’s View. Despite a single species being the centre of attention there was an impressive supporting cast. A garden warbler sang near Fattengates. From the West Mead hide we had the endearing view of six Canada gosling and three tiny lapwing chicks plus a little ringed plover and two avocets on nests. For the few who paused at the Winpenny hide the reward was excellent views of a hobby. The offerings on the North Brooks were typical, plenty of wildfowl including teal and wigeon, another avocet and a few black-tailed godwits. A sedge warbler sang raucously near the Hangar and eventually perched in view. A bonus was a bank vole on a rotting stump in Fattengates. The morning was well spent with a species list of 46.