25th April - Nightingale - Leybourne Lakes Country Park, Kent

We were away for the weekend at my daughter's in Kent.  For some time now they have been trying to get me there in early spring to coincide with the arrival of the Nightingales at Leybourne Country Park, which is literally just across the road for them.  My son-in-law Graham's recent interest in photography and the birds was also a factor as he has been able to find them and locate their territories.  

So on arrival we set off for the short walk into the park.  As we came into the park we could hear one singing, I was told not to spend too much time trying to find it as there were better options.  We walked along the side of one of the lakes and came across another singing.  This time I did manage to see it, although the view wasn't that good.

Once again I was told to walk on as there would be better opportunities and we could hear at least three other birds singing.  Finally we came to an open area, where there were plenty of perches.  A Nightingale was singing but not in view.  Be patient and it would show, and it did this time in the scrub.

There was confidence that it would show better and it did a little, but it still required viewing through branches.  At first with its back to me.

This was better, a turn of the head  and you can appreciate that lovely rich reddish brown plumage.

Then finally some song, but still slightly hiding behind the leaves and branches.

Then it was gone, but I was told once again, it will be back and after a few minutes it was back and this time perched in the open, on what looks like a favourite perch.

Immortalised first in Keats poem "Ode to a Nightingale", a piece written when a Nightingale nested in the garden shared with a friend Charles Armitage Brown.  He wrote:  "Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song and one morning he took a chair from the breakfast table and sat under a plum tree for two to three hours."  It was their he composed his piece.  Unfortunately it would have been the male bird singing and they will sing throughout the night until they have found a mate after which the singing is r.estricted to dawn and dusk

Sadly the enduring immortality of the Nightingale has not come to pass.  Over the last twenty five years the breeding population has declined by a half they now can only be found reliably in a few small areas of southern and eastern England.  Here at Leybourne is definitely a stronghold with many birds singing around the lakes.

I was able to edge a little closer, wading through the nettles

Nightingales love dense thickets so seeing them is normally a challenge, but thanks to the numbers here at Leybourne and the great work by Graham in finding their territories and more importantly knowing where they will sing in a prominent place for the photographs.

Some suggest that the Nightingale has such a beautiful song, because it is a plain brown bird, but I feel there is a definite beauty in them and this one turned to show off the rufous brown plumage on the back and tail.

It moved once again, out of sight to start with then it popped up onto a bramble branch.

The Nightingale's songs are extremely complex with over 200 different types of song recorded, containing a selection of whistles and trills from across the melodic spectrum.  Another defining feature is the volume at which it is delivered.  Males have been recorded sing at 95 decibels, about as loud as a chain saw operating a metre away from your head.

A snatch of video to capture the Nightingale singing.

It was back to the stills as the Nightingale continued to show so well in the open.

A wonderful encounter and a great big thank you to Graham for his work in tracking down this enigmatic bird, a great start to the day.  It was time to move on.