An excellent evening over Whiteley Woods.

 Friday 22nd May 2026.

One of the areas of Whiteley Woods that had Nightingales singing close by.

This evening, Andy Fisher and myself took the drive to Whiteley to meet up with both Emma and Matt Parkes for our annual trip to see the Nightjars at this fantastic site. A fellow ‘Lazee Birder’ was here the night before and successfully saw the Nightjars, plus Woodcocks and a bonus Goshawk and so my hopes were high. Not only is the area good for these birds, but there is always plenty of other wildlife to see (Matt & Emma have a sharp eye for insects) including a few Moth species and even several Wood Mice. Emma brought along her thermal camera, which incidentally, is amazing when you look through it. The weather was just perfect with a clear sky, but I could not believe in how warm it was. At one stage, I was actually sweating!

Whiteley Woods, nr Fareham:

Sadly, this was the best my camera could get of one of the Woodcocks flying overhead.

Andy and myself met up with Emma and Matt around 7.30pm and then made our way to the Woods via the wooded footpath leading to the Nightjar site. On our way there, we stopped off at a large Pond on the edge of the woodland where there were a lot of Yellow Iris plants in full bloom, but it was very quiet around the Pond. Moving on towards the main site, I came across my first Plum Tortrix (Hedya pruniana) micro moth of the year and it was quite stunning to see them actually on the wing. It didn't end there with the moths either as we came across both Cork Moth (Nemapogon cloacella) and a Garden Straw (Agapeta hamana) micro moths. There were many more moths flying around but none would settle long enough for me to get an ID on them.

Three nice 'year-tick' micro moths were found in Whiteley Woods tonight. From top to bottom: Cork Moth, Plum Tortrix and Straw Bell.

Both Nuthatch and Chiffchaffs were seen well as we made our way slowly along the main footpaths and the area was alive with the sound of singing Song Thrushes and Blackbirds, but strangely, no Nightingales! It wasn't till around 8.45pm that the first Nightingale was actually heard. Though I have seen Nightingales earlier this year in Turkey, this was my first one in the UK and my first of at least four birds singing tonight in various areas of Whiteley Woods. Standing next to one (though we could not see it as it was too dark to see the bird) was stunning; the song is so loud and beautiful, one simply could not get tired of hearing this amazing sound.

Above, we found two Common Spotted Orchids along the main footpath and below, several Chiffchaffs were seen along the way.

A big flock of Long-tailed Tits were moving through the trees and Blackcaps were in good numbers too, though very hard to see in the dense woodland. I was sure that I heard a Garden Warbler singing nearby, but, as per usual, the bird remained well hidden and only sang briefly. As we enjoyed more Nightingales singing on our way back to the usual site, it was around 9.15pm that the first Nightjar began ‘churring’. Then a bird flew over the ‘ride’ we were standing in and though the sighting was brief, it was good to actually see it, but that was the best sighting we had all evening. There were at least two ‘churring’ birds present, but both remained elusive.

Above, Emma stumbled across this female Glow-worm crossing the main footpath and below, Matt found this nest that was on the main footpath. Possibly, a Jay had pulled it out and robbed the eggs; a familiar tactic that Jays carried out.

Above, one of the UK's most poisonous plants, the Hemlock Water-dropwort, which was growing abundantly along the main footpaths. Below, a Nuthatch was seen well up one of the trees.

We had much better luck with my first Woodcocks of the year as we had numerous sightings of the birds flying over the ‘ride’, calling in doing so. My awful photos do not do the birds justice, but my camera does struggle to get the photos in the reduced light. While one of the Nightjars was ‘churring’, a Nightingale was singing close by and the bird was actually seen flying over the ‘ride’ of which we all saw. So, I managed to see all the birds we were hoping to see and can conclude it was a very successful evening here at Whiteley Woods. More Woodcocks were heard flying over and then an unusual sound was coming from deep within the woods which stopped us in our tracks. We were sure they were young Tawny Owls, of which there were three of the birds somewhere perched up in the trees. Sadly, the Thermal Camera failed to pick them out among the many bright coloured trees within the wood.

Above, another photo of the Nuthatch showing well and below, the large Pond that I never knew existed until Emma showed it to us.

Above, Yellow Iris plants were abundant around the Ponds perimeter.

Other notable sightings here included the Bats. At least two probable Noctule Bats flew over our heads and continued down the ‘Ride’ and at least four probable Pipistrelle Bats were chasing flying insects over our heads! Emma had found a female Glow-worm walking across one of the footpaths and using her Thermal Camera, we found at least two Wood Mice scurrying along the ground by the edge of the ‘Ride’. We also found our first Common Spotted Orchids of the year along the footpath, which was a bonus. All in all, a superb evening's birding that was full of wildlife and great company.