The Juvenile Birder

 Padley Gorge Disappointment and Encounter With Cows! We arrived at 8:00am in hopes of seeing Wood Warbler ad Redstart. We were told by Scott to go upriver to the left of the river which meant we had to cross it after a very treacherous walk alongside it. We crossed at a point with millions of Grey Wagtails flying upriver and downriver. We then saw a bridge and then a black, small thing was moving up a trail. At first I thought it was a very big froglet or toadlet, but upon closer inspection, was some sort of rodent. I thought it was a mouse, but then I saw the same thing in the water. They were Water Voles! We continued out trek and ended up finding a path. We then asked some people where to go and the all didn't have a clue what those two birds were. Finally, we met a man who was a birder and he told us is was unlikely we were going to see one this late. While we could hear both birds, we couldn't see either one of  them. This was when I really needed a thermal imaging camera

 Rare Terns! We arrived at 5:00am in the morning, after a two hour drive, in hopes of seeing a rare Caspian Tern that was reported last night. Upon arrival, we met someone named Scott who was also searching for the bird. He said that when he arrived, there was one flying around the back of the lake with a gate. He managed to show us a video he took of it before it started flying. We made our way towards the viewpoint when the bird emerged and started flying above the wires in the skyline in the distance. It was about the same size as a Lesser Black-Backed Gull in flight. We enjoyed the bird until we lost it out of our view. A lifer, none the less. Scott then said he'd seen a Green Sandpiper, another lifer, as it flew over the trees but I didn't manage to catch a glimpse of it unfortunately. We then got word of a Caspian Tern that was roosted on the lake which gave much better views. We were unsure whether this was the one that we saw before or the second one as there were two l

Nocturnal Scarcities and Dipper! We arrived at a spot on the River Kent just off of Nannypie Lane at about 7:00pm. We had a pin by Rob and first took a footpath towards the river bank where we saw all the typical river birds: Goosanders,  Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpipers and Grey Herons. This made me feel more confident that Dippers were around. We continued along the road which then came to an end and there was a gate leading to a footbridge which was shaky and high above the river. Although it was quite nerve-racking, we braved it out. We got superb views of the river birds with a Kingfisher even flying down river as it shot into a tree. Just then, a small songbird landed on a rock and started to preen. I looked through my binoculars to ID it but to my frustration, some people were walking on the bridge, causing it to rock and therefore not have a steady look. Luckily, as they walked off, the bird was still there and, to my delight, it was what I thought it was... A DIPPER! While thes

 Rare Warblers and Rare Starlings! (record shot by birder next to us) We first went to RSPB Langford Lowfields (see post named Hobbies Hawking and Bitterns Booming and.., FLYING! for location pin) at 6:00pm in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare Great Reed Warbler. We met someone called Andy on the way there and when we arrived at the Beach Hut, we could see a group of people by Phase 1 to the right of the hut. When we arrived, there were a frenzy of birders. The bird was singing loudly in the patch of reeds in front of us. At one point, we even heard it directly beneath us. We thought we got a glimpse of it as it flew towards an island and back though it could've easily been a common Eurasian Reed Warbler. We waited for about an hour until the someone finally spotted the bird. We rushed down and saw amazingly close views of it as it sung away in the reeds. Besides it were two Eurasian Reed Warblers trying to chase it away from its nest that was nearby. The bird was huge compar

 Spoonbills Finally! We arrived at 7:00pm in hopes of seeing some Spoonbill. We headed straight for the Coal Tips Trail and took two rights two view the flashes. We saw a Green Woodpecker on a post while on the trail. We then viewed The Moat where we saw three Spoonbill fly in and out of the trees with one even landing on the water near the end. They did this quite and, other than them flying, they weren't doing a whole lot. Though, never the less, it was a new tick! Cormorants, Little Egrets and Grey Herons were also present in the heronry as they flew in and put of the trees as they completed their fishing trips. While getting caught up in the moment track of time and had to rush to the car park before it shut at 8:00pm. Overall, a brilliant way to end the day!

 Shrike! We arrived at 2:00pm after seeing some Turtle Doves to go to a reported Woodchat Shrike that has been seen in the area. As soon as we arrived, cars were parked all over the road and people with scopes were looking at something. It was like a jubilee party for a bird. There we met a young birder named Dan who let us use his scope like it was my own. We managed to see the bird and it had a particular liking to one gorse bush but did move about. A new tick! We stayed and admired the Curlew with chicks. Meadow Pipits also perched on the gorse, skylarks hovered and sung everywhere and linnets chirped as they did their flyovers. A short trip yet a great new tick!

 Rare Doves And Ano ther Yellowhammer! We arrived at 11:00am, after a successful trip to Wykeham Forest, in hopes of seeing Turtle Dove. We parked in the lay by next to Mill Inn, a pub that has been permanently shut down. Opposite us were feeders and the Turtle Doves often landed in the trees and on the feeding trays. While Collared Doves and Stock Doves were present, the Turtle Doves were remaining elusive and not even calling. We decided to walk round and while we had no luck walking behind the pub, we did hear one as it purred softly trekking further down the road, right to Mill Inn. We hopped back in the car and soon after saw a Yellowhammer land in the tree and then fly off, a much better view of it than my first sighting on Jacob's Lane. Sometime later, I spotted a pair Turtle Doves as they flew into the tree, stayed for a bit and then flew off. Turtle Doves are on of Britain's fastest declining birds and so to see them is a treat. Another new tick to end the trip here, t

 Scarce Woodland Raptors and Songbirds! We arrived at 8:00am in hopes of seeing Honey Buzzards (As advised by Rob). We walked through the woodland and to Raptor Viewpoint. There, we waited, seeing Common Buzzards yet no Honey Buzzards. Just then, as someone was talking to us, he spotted a raptor circling to the left above the trees fairly close. At first he yelled 'large raptor circling above trees, large raptor circling above trees' and then it was a 'Honey Buzzard! Honey Buzzard!' I looked up and saw it. There were 10/10 views with 1/10 being bad. It then kept popping up and then going down. A new tick! Shortly after, someone pointed out a Goshawk as it flew near to where the Honey Buzzard was but in the opposite direction towards the open space. It only showed briefly so 4/10 views of that yet it was another tick! Then, to finish off the first part of our trip, someone pointed out a Common Crossbill as it perched on top of the pine tree and then flew off. Our final t

  Stints, Sandpipers and Yellow Wagtail Subspecies! We arrived at 8:30am at RSPB Marshside (location pinned to Wader Fest blog post). We headed straight to Sandgrounder's Hide where for a Little Stint reported. When we arrived, we had gotten word that it had gone into the vegetation. However, Lesser Scaup and Little Ringed Plover were in abundance. Presently, someone let me use there scope. I scanned the banks until I found a flock of small waders. While at first I thought all three of them were just Dunlin, upon closer examination I managed to spot a Little Stint. It was much smaller and lighter in colour in comparison to the Dunlin. A new tick, and target species! While we were viewing the stint, someone told us about two Curlew Sandpiper he'd seen on Junction Pool before getting here. We walked straight there and met a man who let us look through his scope, pointed at two Curlew Sandpipers as they came in and out of the vegetation. Surprisingly, they were still in winter plu