On a cold, breezy evening, 22 members arrived at the Flash Lane parking spot, fortunately, most dressed in their winter birding gear. At 9 pm we set off to walk the few hundred metres to the viewing spot. Disappointingly, with the exception of a couple of Black Birds, the place was silent except for the sound of the wind in the trees. Not put off by this lack of avian life, the assembled multitude stood alert and patient and this was eventually rewarded at about 9:30 pm with the appearance of a couple of Woodcock flying above the trees. We then had fairly frequent sightings of Woodcock although it was impossible to know whether it was the same bird doing circuits or different ones. At about 9:45 pm, the sharp of hearing picked up the first churring sounds of a nearby Nightjar. Subsequently, we were entertained by a number of fly passes, more churring and also occasionally the yapping type call of the Nightjar. On one occasion, one bird perched on the top of a nearby dead tree trunk. Based on sound alone, there were two males in the near vicinity. At just gone 10:00, our leader, Steve Slack called time and sent us home to defrost. A very successful trip and very well attended too.
No photos – too dark!