Same old stuff!

Just too good a set of photos not to post something about Nightjars again!

And a few seconds later - Nightjar chicks can fly at a surprisingly early stage (about two weeks old) but, despite a good effort, this one isn't quite there yet! 

Pity it isn't in focus, could have been a good candidate for WPY if it had been - actually, it might still make the artistic category ;)

On Thursday night Jane and I found another Nightjar nest in North Wales with two perfect ringing-age pulli and managed to catch mum too. Paddy also managed to catch an unringed juvenile recently so 74 up!!

Last night Mike Shewring and I went to ring a second brood in South Wales but unfortunately the nest had already failed (probably in the recent heavy rains). It was quite a cold night (10C)  and everywhere seemed remarkably quiet. None of the radio-tagged birds were in residence during the middle part of the night so I guess we are pretty much at the end of the nesting season for most Nightjars now, although Paddty still has a nest which should only just have hatched. Fingers crossed for this very late nest which is the female's third clutch of the year - she reared two chicks on the first attempt and then failed at hatching on the second one.

Adult female Nightjar in the hand - a rare beast in North Wales this year!