Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve, Cliffe, Kent

If any of you live near enough to make the trip, I recommend a visit to RSPB Cliffe Pools at this time of year. It gets visited by many wading birds, but for me the big attraction is the nightingales, which are in full voice at the moment. (No pics as unfortunately you hear them much more than you see them!) They'll be singing away for the next few weeks, until the responsibilities of parenthood start to catch up with them.

 

Although it is a long way from here I'll keep it in mind Clara.
I still haven't seen a Nightingale.

 

They're hard to spot, Strongy! They're little brown birds that stick to dense patches of trees. But the song is unmistakable.

Today, as well as all the usual suspects, we saw grebes and egrets and on the last visit we watched the skylarks doing their aerobatics while catching insects.

 

Ooooh, I love the nightingale song. Can sound a bit Bett Midler'ish sometime but what a range and what volume. Only a wren can match it weight for weight surely. Sadly, haven't heard one in England for about 10 years. Heard them in mid France near Montpelier .

 

Nope, they oblige all day. But, understandably, only until they have kids.