Doc Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Spent a wonderful or should I say magical couple of hours at Long Eaton gravel pits, started off with a little walk to get there and almost instantly saw at least 10 Linnets in some Hawthorne bushes, then 3 pairs of blackcaps, the brown cap of the female very striking indeed. There were lots of whitethroats, and Reed Buntings along the river path. Also managed to spot a Sedge warbler and identify it. On Erewash Fields counted three kestrals, hovering above their pray, one of them came very close , so close in fact I could make out all it's facial features, pretty amazing really. Along the River Trent I encounted a mixture of Swifts, Swallows, and either House or Sand Martins, not quite sure which ones as these little mites were pretty damn quick. I estimate maybe 15 of each, and in one instance it felt like they were dive bombing me. While I was trying to track one of the Swifts, I caught a glimpse of a rather large raptor, it was a long way away, but it was large and to me looked like it had a forked tail, so I instantly thought Red Kite, but when I met some twitchers later on, one of them said that he had see a common Buzzard in his spotting scope that was missing a tail feather giving the appearance of a fork tail, so maybe I saw that instead. A little further down the path I saw a Peregrine Falcon swooping over the Trent carrying what looked like a water rat in it's mouth. At last I reached the gravel pits and saw at least 5 people observing there, on the pond was a mixture of Common Terns and Artic Terns, I would say about 20 of each and then I saw the bird that I had made the special trip down to see and that was a single Black Tern. What a fantastic looking Tern, I loved it, and it was another tick for me. Stayed there about 30 minutes just admiring all the Terns, diving towards the surface of the water, it was magical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldfruit Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Sounds like a nice session. I really should give something like this a go. Being an Astronomer, i will already have a pair of bins so just a guide/identification book should be all that is needed. Our dark site is a nature reserve and my wife and i go to Thetford forest a lot, seems to make sense the more i think about it. Also my wife is Polish and we go to Poland for a couple of weeks every year. We do see a lot of nice birds and i have often wondered what they were, Cranes and Storks are birds we see there quite often. Any recommendations of a good guide book for bird spotting? Edited April 30, 2012 by oldfruit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 I just use the RSPB Pocket birds ISBN 0-7513-3678-5 dead small and compact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ibbo Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Sounds like a good spot Mick must get out a bit more myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Sounds like a nice day you had there Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Sounds like a good day out Mick, weather can make all the difference! Black Tern's are cracking birds, pity they're only passage birds!! Nice one about the Red Kite!! ha ha. Nearly as good as a Wheatear/plant!! ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 LOL the classic Wheatear plant Five Black Terns at Attenborough today, off to see them tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 The Black Terns used to nest at Attenborough, on on of the man made pontoons. We used to go down and watch them some years ago. Gorgeous birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Saw 2 White-winged Black Tern's many years ago at Pitsford Res nr Northampton, big wow factor!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 I bet that was great, managed to see all five today at Attenborough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+RonC Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 (edited) Lucky you!! Haven't seen a Black tern for a couple of years! Still, saw 2 Red Kites flying together yesterday, so swings and roundabouts (if you know what I mean!!) Bought a pair of Barr &b Stroud 8x43 bino's to take on holiday, I'm well impressed considering there not ED's!! By the way, it's International Dawn Chorus day on Sat 5th May, may go to Gibralter Point if it's fine! Edited May 2, 2012 by Ron Clarke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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