Tag: Chobham Common

Six members and three visitors assembled at the Jubilee Mount car park in an evening search for nightjars. The night was sultry and the air full of the perfume of cooling vegetation. A short way along the roadside path was a colony of silver-studded blue butterflies with the odd common blue among them, mainly perched offering excellent photo opportunities. During the descent to the heath a roebuck galloped beside the path and a female stonechat perched on the gorse. An occasional chiffchaff sang but the common was generally quiet. The concentration was accordingly more on non-avian species, at least until dusk. First came a pair of beautiful early marsh orchids and then in small ponds a dozen or so newts identified as palmate by the webbing on their feet. In mid-heath a couple of Dartford warblers called distantly and a peregrine streaked overhead. At the main pond the sparse bird list was increased by singles of mallard, moorhen, whitethroat and song thrush. By the crossroads on the main track the action finally began. First came churring from several directions; then two nightjars were seen to the south, calling and wing clapping as they flew. Two more circled the group near the crossroads giving excellent views. More were heard churring on the return path and when approached took to the air providing further entertainment. Despite a list of only sixteen birds identified the evening proved to be an outstanding nightjar experience.

Fourteen members met at the Jubilee Mount car park on a cloudy, drizzly morning. The paths were wet and boggy after recent rains and the birds were subdued. Warblers were fortunately in fine voice and we heard good numbers of chiffchaffs, blackcaps and whitethroats as we progressed. Wrens and a song thrush made their presence felt while a couple of linnets perched in view. The tree tops held a number of stonechats flycatching, some of them juveniles. Two great spotted woodpeckers swooped over our heads. Then there was a brief glimpse of a Dartford warbler, followed by a snatch of song and later an excellent view of a one perched close to us while waiting for the opportunity of taking the food it was carrying to its nest. Later a few swifts streaked over the heath and a small flock of tits comprising blue, great, coal and long-tailed was encountered. The butterflies we saw were confined to a large skipper, a few small heaths and a fair number of silver-studded blues. We also found a single emperor dragonfly and several common blue damselflies. A list of 22 bird species reflected the conditio