[The sniper]

I have been thinking about nightjars alot recently,so much so I jumped in my motor at 5pm tonight from sunny Upminster and headed off to sunny Suffolk for the evening,before getting stuck on the A12 for an hour or so and deciding to just do a bit of local birding.
Anyhow,my question is that why aren't there any heathlands capable of supporting nightjars dartfords etc in Essex?
I know we have lost most of the heathlands in the uk over the last few hundred years but we as a country have managed to bring a few areas of heathlands back to their former glories and I know parts of Essex were heathlands in the past so why is there no attempt to bring at least small areas of heathlands back into existence in Essex?
I just feel it would add to an already super birding county which is often the poor relation in terms of funding compared to counties like Suffolk and Norfolk

[Viv Connett]

I agree totally - there are so many good areas in this county but we just don't get the same birds. Obviously migration paths have a lot to do with it but certainly new habitats can be created to attract others.

[The sniper]

Had a couple of hours spare between taking someone to gatwick and then picking someone else up from heathrow,so I decided to head to Thursley common in Surrey,glad I did,it would be wonderful if we could have the same habitat in parts of essex

[Owl Capone]

Alright, I agree also, there are very small areas like Long Running and Danbury common that have few Tree Pipit and the very occasional Nightjar but thats about it. I think Tiptree heath is being restored somewhat, but its only a small area, and packed with people walking dogs. Im not sure there were ever great swathes of heathland due to predominately clay soil type in Essex. It would be great, but I just dont think there is enough land, or any funding to buy additional land, when it would be more pracital to allocate it to protecting and expanding existing areas of habitat, such as Dunwich, Surrey etc I think we need a billionaire arab sheikh to help us out!

[The sniper]

I read somewhere that a large area of land around Colchester used to be Heathland ,also to the west of the county

[Owl Capone]

I wasnt aware of that, but I suppose the word 'heath' (Tiptree/Weeley/Bradfield) gives it away really! I know we used to have Woodlark in the north of the county, but they have now gone. Stonechat, Red-backed Shrike, Redstart and Nightjar have all disappeared from Epping Forest in recent times. I would love to see a heathland project in Essex, but cant see it happening unless privately funded

[The sniper]

I do wonder whether Epping is watched enough??
I bird there every now and then but never seem to see or hear many reports or see anyone else

[Owl Capone]

Long running in Epping has Tree Pipit and Woodcock. It has Nightjar passing through in some years, and is probably the most likely place you are likely to see this one in the county. Unfortunately it is a no-go area and gay haunt at night, and I would not want to go there late or park anywhere near it. Its frustratingly out of bounds. There is a small heathland project at Thorndon as well, but again it is a small area. I think Tiptree has the most potential, but there are many dogwalkers there. You would need a large area of private land, to recolonise these species.

[purple highflyer]

Essex,and most of the south east ,will probably never see worthwhile heathland again,even if enough land was put aside and managed,it would soon be so overrun with people,dogs,bikes etc as to make it unsuitable for the species you were trying to attract,unless it was fenced off...

PH

[The sniper]

I think there are parts of Kent and even essex which wouldn't suffer from this problem.
Areas to the East and North of essex as well as the west are quite open countryside and its only really the south of the county which is over run.
Above chelmsford and to the east are quite rural.Personally i think it would be worth a try,at least in a couple of areas.

[purple highflyer]

As soon as you create an open space with public access people will flock there,north essex is not as rural as it would appear,Braintree etc still expanding,prime agricultral land(prices of which are currently rocketing upwards) would have to be used to create a big enough area to be worthwhile.
I personally think there is nowhere in essex ,with public access ,that could be called remote anymore.

[The sniper]

Maybe not remote but there are a few places which could support a decent amount of heathland.
I was reading the Essex widlife trust magazine from 2008 while waiting to get my hair cut earlier and it stated that much of essex was Heathland and they were trying to turn areas back,especially at places like Hockley woods and Hatfield forest (edges).
Areas around the later could certainly support a decent amount of heathland.
I am not talking about an area the size of the heathland in surrey or suffolk but something reasonably substantial would definatly be possible and benefit the heathland species which would undoubtably find a home there.

[purple highflyer]

Hatfield forest is already overrun with dog walkers,any "heathland" created there will go the same way,although generally the national trust do a good job there with their coppice management of the forest and keeping deer numbers down.
Trouble is ,if you want Nightjar etc,then the areas of heath will need to be on a scale such as those in Suffolk and Norfolk,thats why they have heathland species and Essex doesn't.

PH

[The sniper]

Nightjars would be more of a plus than a neccessity,it would be for other species like dartford warblers,stonechat,woodlark etc.
It can't be a bad thing to return certain parts of a county back to heathland if managed properly.
I went to thursley last week and while there were dogs allowed on there,they were asked to keep them to the paths and they seemed to do so.Education is key to dogwalkers,alternatively areas which are new heathland could be fenced off from dogwalkers

[purple highflyer]

Yes,that would be the answer,dog owners are asked to keep dogs on leads at Hatfield forest ,but rarely do,I think Nightjars would be more likely than Dartfords ,especially after the big decline over the last two winters,Tree pipits and Redstarts seem to have permanently deserted areas where they were previously found when the habitats dont seem to have changed.

PH

[The sniper]

I think many dog owners are unaware at times.
On heathland I always see "keep dogs on lead signs" or similar and on the whole it is adhered to.But it needs to be policed,not just by parks authority etc but by the public and other users.Sometimes just a friendly word can help,others maybe need to be reported and repeat offenders either banned from such areas or fined