The Juvenile Birder

 Infuriating Wrynecks!! We arrived at Spurn YWT at 6:30am, to search for a Wryneck that was showing well yesterday, (along The Canal). I checked the rocks briefly, to no avail, and then walked along the canal towards the seawatching hide; which was very quiet, except for an Arctic Skua and a few Scoter, Wigeon and Red-throated Divers were also seen. We then ran towards the Canal Scrape Hide when we heard the radio message of a Jack Snipe showing well, yet when we arrived, we got the sad news that it had JUST flown away. We waited for a bit, again no avail, and then rushed back along The Canal to go see a reported Yellow-browed Warbler; in the Crown & Anchor car park. Along the way, we saw a crowd of people staring at the rocks. I asked someone what had been seen, and he replied Wryneck!. My face lit up as I rapidly searched for it, when I finally saw it fly onto a rock and land in view, briefly. Then, the radio said a Yellow-browed Warbler, caught in the mist nets, that was goi...

 What Makes Me Tick! Birding makes me feel relaxed and also hyper at the same time; especially when I see a new bird, for the first time. I feel a thrill, that I can't compare to anything else. My ambition is to able to see and to identify every wild bird, in the world. I find rarities fascinating because often they are lost and have travelled massive distances, to be where they should not be. I have always been involved with animals, I had a silver membership to Blackpool Zoo and used to visit there every weekend, since I was 3 years old. Birding came into my blood when I was 6 years old and visited a ringing demonstration at WWT Martin Mere and I was privileged to release a Goldfinch placed in my hand. I now want to bird all the time, every day. My favourite book is called Britain's Birds (second edition). I loving reading and absorbing its knowledge daily. I love learning where birds are from, their different plumages, their habitat. I love seeing the birds that I have l...

 Seawatch and Intro to a Notepad!! We arrived at Flamborough Head at 6:40am, in hopes of seeing Pomarine and Long-tailed Skua. We saw a few Arctic & Great Skua as well as thousands of Manx Shearwater and Red-throated Diver. Suddenly, one of the seawatchers, Craig calls "adult Pom Skua heading north."  I desperately try to get my scope on it, but couldn't. He then lets me look through his scope and says that the bird was going to go through there in a few seconds. I looked through it, in eager anticipation and then there it was, with its spoon-like projections on the tail. I cherish observing the Pom Skua, before going back to my own scope. A few Sooty Shearwater and Little Gulls also flew past  afterwards, but nothing else. Craig taught me about how to identify Shearwaters and Skuas in the distance, and that identifying seabirds was a process of elimination, much of it guess work and he felt it necessary that people shout out their opinion and encourage discourse when...

SPURN MIGRATION FESTIVAL!! (adult female Pallid Harrier flyover)  ( Black Redstart ) (Common Redstart) (Willow Warbler) (juvenile female Eurasian Sparrowhawk) (Pale-bellied Brent Goose) (about a dozen distant Common Scoter)  We arrived at Spurn YWT at 6:00am and parked in North Field, for Spurn Migration Festival (aka Migfest). We got a lift to the Seawatching Hide and did a seawatch. It was fairly quiet with a few Red-throated Diver flying north. Then a flock of around a dozen Common Scoter landed close in on the sea, making for some brilliant digiscoped images of them and incredible views, before heading north. Soon after, a huge flock of  Little Gulls landed on the sea and fed over the sea, like butterflies erratically flying up and down. We then got word that the ringing team had caught a female Sparrowhawk so we rushed down to see it. It was very similar to what happened at Global Birdfair, when their ringing team also caught a female Sparrowhawk, with the only diffe...