Nightingales
7 places to see and hear nightingales in the wild, in 7 countries from Denmark to Spain: when each one peaks, where to go on your own, what it costs and what you will hear. Wild animals only, no zoos.
Best time, place by place
| Spectacle | Country | Peak | On your own? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrush nightingale nights in eastern Denmark | Denmark | 15 May – 10 Jun | You can go on your own |
| Nightingales singing | United Kingdom | 20 Apr – 15 May | You can go on your own |
| Berlin: the nightingale capital | Germany | 25 Apr – 20 May | You can go on your own |
| Provençal nights: nightingale, scops owl & stone-curlew | France | 25 Apr – 5 Jun | You can go on your own |
| Bolle di Magadino: spring fall-outs and nightingales | Switzerland | 15 Apr – 20 May | You can go on your own |
| Mediterranean nights: nightingale & scops owl | Italy | 20 Apr – 31 May | You can go on your own |
| Dawn chorus of the Mediterranean scrub and dehesa | Spain | 15 Apr – 25 May | You can go on your own |
Where to go, north to south
Thrush nightingale nights in eastern DenmarkThe thrush nightingale's slower, more percussive song than its southern cousin — loud whistles, clacking and rattles — from damp scrub, often several males in earshot; marsh warblers mimicking, woodcock roding overhead, cuckoo, grasshopper warbler.
Nightingales singingFull nocturnal nightingale song, often with several males counter-singing; tawny owls and the first dawn birds behind.
Berlin: the nightingale capitalDense nightingale song with several males counter-singing within 100 m, over a city bed — trains, sirens, the airport approach; in the Grunewald and on the Havel shores, a cleaner mix with tawny owl and reed warblers.
Provençal nights: nightingale, scops owl & stone-curlewNightingales in every tamarisk, scops owls' 'tiu' on a 2–3 s metronome, stone-curlew wails from the Crau, nightjars churring on the garrigue, tree frogs from the marsh.
Bolle di Magadino: spring fall-outs and nightingalesNightingale night chorus in the riverside scrub, Cetti's explosions, reed and great reed warblers, cuckoo, penduline tit; tree frogs; waders on the delta mud; Lake Maggiore lapping.
Mediterranean nights: nightingale & scops owlNightingales everywhere, the metronomic 'tiu' of scops owls (often several in duet), stone-curlew wails, tree frogs.
Dawn chorus of the Mediterranean scrub and dehesaNightingales as the backbone, golden orioles fluting from the poplars, azure-winged magpie flocks rasping through the cork oaks, hoopoes, bee-eaters and cuckoos — the classic Iberian spring chorus.