Kent Ornithological Society 
A national BTO survey of heathland birds (Nightjar, Woodlark and Dartford Warbler) is taking place this year, in partnership with the RSPB, as detailed in the March and May KOS Newsletters.
Woodlark and Dartford Warbler do not really feature in Kent, mainly due to our lack of heathland, which is generally the preferred habitat (although some areas do exist around Pembury, Hothfield and on the Blean) so there were only a few squares (1km) to be surveyed. However, Kent does have a population of Nightjars, mostly in woodland habitats, which have been the subject of BTO surveys at intervals in the past (1981, 1992 and 2004), and so, after an interval of 20 years, it will be great to survey Nightjar again and get an update on its status in Kent. In terms of the other species, the occasional pair of Woodlark and Dartford Warbler do sometimes breed, but they are RBBP (Rare Breeding Bird Panel) species and survey effort has mostly been directed to a few local observers for the known potential breeding sites.
The main emphasis in Kent will be to survey Nightjars. The species favours areas of clear-felled and freshly replanted conifers and areas of Sweet Chestnut coppice up to about 3 years of age. It is recommended that anyone volunteering to survey Nightjars should make a daytime recce visit before the survey is undertaken in order to establish if suitable habitat is present, and if so where. This will save time wandering around at dusk during the survey to locate suitable areas.
There are a large number of 1km squares available for survey which cover the main woodlands in Kent where Nightjars do or have occurred. Areas where volunteers are particularly required are:-
Bedgebury Forest
Hemsted Forest
Denge Woods
Blean Woods (particularly south of A2)
West Blean/Thornden Woods
Orlestone Forest
Lyminge Forest (West Wood, Elhampark Wood)
Volunteers selecting squares (see below for how to do this) will notice that the BTO have attempted to identify areas of suitable habitat and shaded out areas deemed unsuitable. Please ignore this (toggle to remove this feature before printing map) and make a daytime visit (as suggested above) to identify suitable areas. In Kent, the coppicing of chestnut can continue quite late into the season (even early April) so potential areas will likely be missed on the BTO assessments. It will probably be the case that many of the squares do not contain any suitable habitat, in which case please notify the organiser and select another square.
Nightjar survey instructions are given here:-
https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/nightjar_survey_methods_2025.pdf
In brief, volunteers should make two visits (at least 10 days apart) during the survey period which is (25 May – 31 July) covering either the two-hour period after sunset, or the two hours prior to sunrise. Volunteers are asked to mark locations of any birds recorded on a printed off map with date and time of visit and some basic habitat details.
Update: due to the early arrival of birds this year, the survey period now starts on 20 May
Volunteers are asked to record a few other species if present and to make a note of these, something that may add purpose and interest to visits if there are no Nightjars! The species of concern in Kent are Hobby, Long-eared Owl, Cuckoo, Stonechat, Grasshopper Warbler, Tree Pipit and Linnet.
Sign up
Have a MyBTO account already?
Don't have a BTO account?
- Create a MyBTO account and then sign up to the survey.
Once logged in, you will find the survey sign up for the survey in the 'Sign Up for Projects' section.
Request a site
Once signed up, you can request a square via the survey portal.
- Log in to the survey portal using your MyBTO account details.
Full details of the Nightjar survey can be found on the BTO website for the survey Heathland Birds Survey | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology