Helpston's wildlife

Nightjar

'The weary woodman rocking home beneath
His tightly banded faggot wonders oft
While crossing over the furze-crowded heath
To hear the fern owl's cry that whews aloft'

The nightjar or fern owl was a feature of the night time landscape for John Clare and particularly, he records, of his 'love rambles'. 'This bird was one of her [Patty - his wife] curositys . It very often startld me with its odd nosie which was a dead thin whistling sort of sound which I fancied was the whistle call of robbers for it was much like the sound of a man whistling in fear of being hear.'

They were commonly found on Emmingsails heath, where their distinctive song would have been a feature of spring evenings [click to listen].

Nightjars haven't bred locally for quite some time, although odd birds have been seen in the area, for instance at Castor Hanglands in 1979. However, the nightjar population is on the increase generally across England and there is plenty of good habitat for them still at the Hanglands, so perhaps they may return in the future.