"Oot and Aboot with Johnny" Black Terns at Big Waters 8 May 2016

Mr Sedgy Warbler and I were out for a walk round Big Waters which was very pleasant but after the long and arduous walk with a blistering pace set by myself trying to speed him and Ian D up as Alan J could not attend early due to other commitments (Bad Head) we arrived at the First Hide where Mick Mcg was already ensconced with his scope.  We exchanged pleasantries and after a short while Mick casually mentioned that one of the Terns looked a little dark, I agreed and before any more could be said Ian D confirmed that they were Black Terns and eventually we all agreed that there were a total of 4.  A couple of phone calls were made and tweets sent and the hide was a bit full within the next 45 mins and plenty of people were enjoying these graceful birds.  After people came and went Mick Mcg again mentioned that there seemed to be more Black Terns at the bottom of the pond so we again scanned and after about 5-10 minutes the word went out that there was now 10 of these little beauties there.  Anyway thats enough waffle so here are a few pictures and a short  video of them although they never actually came close to the hide you can still make out the ever changing black/white/grey lines of them in the sunlight.

The Video

We did see a few other things whilst wandering around that day so here are a few more pictures.

Obliging Wren at Little Waters

 Common Tern at Little Waters

One of the brood of 5 Moorhen chicks

Can't get enough of the Swan pictures (Carole luvs em)

 Beautiful and still Early Morning

The first of the year at Big Waters

Well I must head out now as have already been up for 2 hours, writing blogs, tidying up (as we have people coming to see Carole at 9 - thats a bit early for her and I have been told she "wants to be alone with them without me sticking my nose in") emptied my moth trap (only found 3 baaahhh) potted a couple of plants and even cleaned my boots (sort of).  Will do another video of the rest of the day hopefully tonight although I might have to sort the audio out on one of them where Alan J overdoes his praise of my birding skills.

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