Gary Howard's birds and wildlife

I met up with Marcus Lawson this evening; our wives and offspring were all together on the coast enjoying the half-term sunshine so we went birding. After a spot of dinner a la Lawson (cheers mate!) we headed to Pembury and stopped briefly at the water works where we saw a female Mandarin with 7 small ducklings.

We met up with Josh Jenkins Shaw and walked into Tudeley Woods to look for nightjars.

A Hobby shot through a heathland clearing as we waited for dusk but overall it was rather quiet.

It got to 9.30 and still not a sound apart from the roar of traffic from the nearby A228. Around 10.00 we heard a distant Nightjar churring and walked around to the other side of the clearing but still heard nothing our side.

We walked back to our original spot and were on the verge of leaving when a bird started churring from the closest tree, unseen,  and continued for several minutes. After a few moments of silence it started up again at the far side of the clearing;  we never saw it move!

A Tawny Owl hooted as we trudged back in the dark. I can't remember the last time I failed to see a Nightjar having heard it.............