Winning An Award and Sighting Badgers!

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Winning An Award and Sighting Badgers!

                           (image from internet)                       


We arrived at the Global Birdfair (location pinned to post) at 9:00am and at first went to the Swallow Marquee to check out some of the stall there. After that, we went to the BTO Bird Ringing Demonstration and as soon as we arrived, the staff who were ringing were showing everyone an adult female Sparrowhawk and soon after that they showed everyone a Goldcrest and I got a really close view of it. We then moved to a different marquee and met Stephen Menzie at the British Birds stall. We had a good conversation and I learned a lot about ageing, observation and patchworking. We then attended a bird ID competition for young birders at 3:00pm which was hosted by three people including Stephen. After that, we checked out a few more stalls, meeting David Lindo (aka The Urban Birder) who offered to help with this blog. At 5:30pm, we attended the Zeiss Young Birders Award after applying for it a while back. When my name was called for the winner of the up to 12's award, I was in shock and ecstatic. After the award ceremony, We took a group photo with the Zeiss staff and Benjamin, the winner of the 12-16's category. We then left and went to a reserve called Alkborough Flats in hopes of seeing a reported Stilt Sandpiper, something that would be a lifer. When we arrived, we met an old friend named Bob, the man who helped us see the Belted Kingfisher by ringing us to let us know when the bird was reported. He said that this bird hadn't been sighted since 6:30pm and we arrived at 8:30pm so the chances of us seeing it were low. It was with a flock of Dunlin when it flew off to roost somewhere. We waited a bit with a flock of at least 30 Spoonbill right in front of us on the pool from Prospect Hide. They did eventually spread out to feed while we waited. Also present were two Spotted Redshanks in moult. We waited a bit more and saw two Roe Deer run along the back of the lake and into the foliage. We then went to the car park and saw two more Roe Deer in the field in front of it. A lady then mentioned that you can see badgers at the top of the hill to the left of the car park because someone called Mike lives up there and feeds them every night. She then showed us where they cross the road to get to Mike's backyard. I looked through my binoculars and saw a white face with vertical black stripes staring down at me. It was a Badger, and the first one I had ever seen! Its bright white face stood out in the dim light and I watched as it ran out of a bush and into another one, followed by a second. Soon after, they both ran out of the bush and back to where we first saw them. A brilliant way to end the day!

Location: The Global Birdfair, Showground Way, Oakham LE15 7TW, UK

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