Nighthawk !

12 Oct - something I don't do at all often, but I really like Nightjars and night birds, so a long-staying Common Nighthawk is a very special vagrant - the slight drawback was that this one is currently resident in Northern Ireland....so a day trip from Bristol! The bird is roosting in a paddock near Ballymena and feeding morning and evening over the adjacent river. I arrived during the day, and had good views of the beautiful but cryptic plumage of the bird as it roosted photogenically on a mossy sycamore branch, blending with the tree colour with its mottled/barred plumage, eyes occasionally opening but mostly closed as it slept away the daylight hours. The bird would be very hard to locate if no one else was on site, but being a weekend there was a steady trickle of admirers, both Irish and British, so the bird could be pointed out to newcomers. Towards dusk it woke up, stretched a little and departed the roosting spot close overhead, calling softly, to hawk for insects, showing stiffer wingbeats than European Nightjar, together with large white wing patches and corners to the tail. A memorable and atmospheric encounter with this rare visitor. Incidentally, my impression of Northern Ireland was that it is green and tree-covered, reminding me perhaps most of Wales (in terms of other parts of the UK). Strange to think that this small province is at the epicentre of the current Brexit conundrum.......