A visit in the evening might be rewarded by seeing woodcock ' roding ' overhead and hearing the song of the mysterious nightjar.
Before long a single male nightjar put on a very good display clearly visible against the night sky.
Habitat creation and conservation measures for birds, which include nightjar, owl and lesser-spotted woodpecker, include the provision of nesting boxes.
Indian nightjar Several of these small, delicate nightjars seen pre-dawn at Bundala together with one spotlighted elephant which gave us rather a start.
Notable birds include woodlark, nightjar, hobby and Dartford warbler.
On our after-dinner walks through the grounds we had heard a nightjar churring in the wet scrub just to the east of the hotel.
Photo courtesy RSPB Several nationally uncommon species occur on the heath including the Grayling butterfly, and breeding Stonechat, Dartford Warbler and Nightjar.
The nightjar, now considered a subspecies of Rufous Nightjar, is rarely seen outside of the breeding season.
There is a photo of an Egyptian nightjar at this external link.
We run evening nightjar visit every summer - take a look at our events program for details of evening walks to see the nightjars.
We started before dawn, up one of the paths opposite the hotel, hoping to find a nightjar.