Willington Gravel Pits, lies alongside the River Trent near Repton in South Derbyshire. The site is now a Derbyshire Wildlife Reserve but for many, many years has been well known for being a great local birding spot.
Over the years it has had some superb birds and I can recall one of my best finds in Derbyshire at this site, a Red Kite in 1966, when Red Kite was a mega rare bird across the country, let alone in Derbyshire.
News of a summer plumaged Little Gull this morning, pulled me away from my local patch at Staunton Harold Reservoir, where I found my first Common Sandpiper for the year, but little else.
I soon found the Little Gull hawking across the pits in amongst the Black-headed Gulls. I also had a few good spring migrants including a Common Tern, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler, both Lesser and Common Whitethroat. So not a bad morning.
