The
other day I went birding at Willington Gravel Pits with my family and
Simon Roddis (a great birder we have met through Twitter). Willington is
my local nature reserve and it is always a favourite place to go birding
in my opinion. We were also keen to try the new hide which has recently been
completed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
I
took our new scope my family received for Christmas, it was the first
time using it and I absolutely loved it. The scope is an Opticron and is
the MM3 60 GA ED/45. We were so excited about it, we forgot to take a photo!
It
worked really well and gives really clear views of the birds on the
wetlands. It is great for us because it's a nice simple scope to use and
light to carry.
There were plenty of species to see, such as Wigeon, Teal,
Pochard, Lapwing, Redwing, Fieldfare,Great Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Tit and Great
Crested Grebe. We also heard Water Rail and several Cetti's Warbler.
At the new hide we had a great view of a Kingfisher there catching from the large shoals of fish you could see. And thanks to the scope we had amazing views of the species, the colours appeared really bright and beautiful.
