Nightjars

7 places to see and hear nightjars in the wild, in 7 countries from Denmark to The Gambia: 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

Where to go, north to south

• Nightjars and woodlarks in the dune plantationsDenmark · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–10 JulNightjar churring from clear-fell edges, wing-claps and 'coo-ick' flight calls, woodlark's cascading song at dusk, long-eared owl chicks squeaking, roe deer barking; the North Sea surf behind the Thy dunes.
• Nightjars churringUnited Kingdom · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–15 JulContinuous mechanical churring with changes of gear, wing-claps, 'coo-ick' flight calls, with tree pipits and woodlarks at dusk.
• Nightjars churring on the Kalmthoutse HeideBelgium · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–10 JulThe dry, sustained churr of nightjars from the pine edges, rising and falling as the bird turns its head, broken by 'kwik' calls and wing-claps; woodlarks' song at dusk, natterjacks rasping from the fens; the hum of the port of Antwerp on the horizon.
• Nightjars and woodlarks of the Landes pine forestFrance · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–15 JulChurring nightjars from every clear-fell in Europe's largest planted forest, woodlarks still singing at dusk, and the surf from the Atlantic dunes if you are near the coast.
• Karst nights: scops owl, nightjar and cicadasSlovenia · Nocturnal · peak 20 May–10 JulScops owl's monotone 'tyuh' every 2–3 s from village edges, nightjar churring on the dry meadows, sub-Mediterranean bush-cricket wall of sound, cicadas at 90+ dB at midday in July, eagle owl from the Vipava cliffs in late winter.
• Red-necked nightjar nightsSpain · Nocturnal · peak 20 May–10 JulThe Iberian nightjar's knocking 'kutuk-kutuk-kutuk' — slower and woodier than the European nightjar's churr — from dozens of birds in stone-pine and dehesa, with scops owls and stone-curlews, and the birds sitting on the warm tracks in the headlights.
• Nightjars and owls of the coastal woodland — Brufut and KotuThe Gambia · Nocturnal · peak 15 Jan–31 MarThe long-tailed nightjar's engine-like churr from every clearing, standard-winged nightjar's insect-like trill as males circle with their pennants, the deep grunts of Verreaux's eagle-owl in the big trees and white-faced scops owl's bubbling call.

More: every animal and kind · what is on in October