Nightingales – Beautiful Songsters

I’m just back from a few hours listening to one of the UK’s most enigmatic, elusive and enchanting birds, the Nightingale – beautiful songsters that have just arrived back from their winter grounds of sub-Saharan Africa.

The venue for the best part of 5 hours tracking down these newly arrived birds was Westleton Heath in Suffolk. Together with my friend, Liz Dack, we encountered half a dozen singing birds eager to stake their claim to territory amongst the thick scrub and gorse. That gorse really did look and smell a treat in the bright spring sunshine with the waft of coconut scent and blazing stands of the most vibrant yellow assaulting our eyes and nostrils. Our ears were kept busy listening to the Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos megarhynchos) announcing their arrival loudly, stridently and in a most aurally satisfying manner.

After a couple of false starts when a perched female Blackcap fooled us into thinking our sought after bird had emerged into the open, we staked out 3 territorial males along a quiet footpath. By slowly, stealthily, walking up and down, craning our necks to peer into the dense foliage trying to pin down the singing bird that at times seemed to be within touching distance, we eventually managed brief but excellent views. It was interesting to hear how the song started with a few quiet churrs before winding up to full throttle. I even managed to record one singing.

Nightingales really can be difficult to see well, with most giving fleeting glimpses as they zip across a path or move between singing perches, so having one sit out in the open for 30 seconds whilst it belted out phrase after phrase of liquid notes was pure joy. We were truly blessed.

On the more open areas of heath towards Dunwich we came upon a pair of tiny Dartford Warblers that led us a merry dance whilst we attempted to take photographs. The male sporadically perched on the top of a gorse plume to sing his buzzing song before frustratingly diving back down into deep cover before I could focus my camera on him. His mate tended to creep around in the tangle and gave few opportunities for a decent snap. My dream of capturing a bright red liveried male singing his heart out atop a sprig of bright yellow gorse could not be realised, but I managed to get the female as a welcome 2nd prize.

What with Stonechats, Chiffchaffs aplenty, a lovely singing Woodlark, twittering Linnets and soaring Buzzards we were well entertained, but it was those Nightingales – beautiful songsters – that stole the show.