After a spell of dry weather, the Met. Office accurately forecast rain to start at 4.0 clock p.m.on Thursday 27th June in West Gloucestershire. The predicted drizzle intensified and by 6.0 p.m. when 20 stalwarts assembled in the car park on Tidenham Chase there were almost as many brollies as participants. The route for the evening included a walk over Poor’s Allotment (SSSI) to Ridley Bottom (a nature reserve owned by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust ) and thence to the heathcovered Park ..a circuit of some 2 miles.
The aims were to see the flower meadows in the reserve and to experience the antics of the nightjars on the heath. Undaunted by the rain, we crossed the B4226 on to the Allotment. Watched by docile Longhorn and Gloucestershire cattle, whose grazing keeps the area from reverting to scrub,we wandered over the springy grassland with our guru, George Peterken ,enlightening us on matters botanical. Its floral display, however was totally outshone by that at Ridley Bottom where despite heavy rain the meadows were solid drifts of colour….spotted orchids, yellow rattle, knapweed ,twayblade, bird’s foot trefoil, to name just very few – and in such abundance that some were inevitably squashed underfoot. Here Kevin Castor (Warden of the Wildlife Trust) and Gill Maher (a volunteer) joined George to guide us around the fields identifying species and explaining the history and management of this very special reserve.
Happily no-one got lost as we threaded our way up a winding path through the wood thence back over the road and into the west side of the Park to our sorely needed refreshments (both solids and liquids)!
It was only drizzling when our next ‘teacher’ joined us. Ivan Proctor, ornithologist extraordinaire, told us the story of these weird and fascinating birds – the nightjars. Due to lack of suitable habitat in this country they are rare but we are fortunate in the Forest to have five locations where they can be found in summer. They are ‘a birder’s bird,’ he said, with a very individual lifestyle; a night flier whose two-tone churring call starts only at dusk and whose acrobatic flight as it patrols its territory feeding on moths thrills. We learnt a lot from Ivan’s talk and then were privileged to both hear and see the birds themselves as they began their night shift. Though almost dark and certainly chilly the final curtain of the evening was taken by the appearance of a woodcock as it too began its night patrol over the heath.
I hope that those who braved the miserable midsummer evening felt well-rewarded for their effort. I certainly felt it was time well spent.