The Juvenile Birder

Duel at Dawn! We arrived at a moorland site in North Wales at around 5:30am. Our target was Black Grouse, and we were hoping to see them lek. We parked in a layby at dawn, and waited for it to get lighter. We could just make out their white tails in the dark. After around 20 minutes, we were finally able to see the lekking Black Grouse clearly. Their blood red "eyes" stood out at first, as well as their iconic shape created by their fan tail as they lek front-on.  While the  Black Grouse  were lekking, they made an amazing and iconic bubbling sound. They would also occasionally call. We could also hear a singing  Cuckoo  distantly, but we were unable to locate it. We then continued along the moorland, spotting multiple Red Grouse  as they flew across the road and landed right besides our car. Happy with our morning, we set off to try and find my bogey bird, and a bird I've wanted for 3+ years! We arrived at Pensychnant Conservation Centre at around 8:30am in hopes of seei

Birding Bonanza! We arrived at RSPB Frampton Marsh at around 8:00am, in hopes of spotting many rare birds. We were with Dave, who had given us a lift there. Our first target was the Lesser Yellowlegs, which could be seen from the car park. We walked towards a small crowd which was gathered at the side of the car park, and Dave let me look through his scope pointed at the Lesser Yellowlegs . I managed to get a record shot of it, before Dave then let me look through his scope again, this time aimed at a female Black-winged Stilt . I also saw my first Avocet  and Little Ringed Plover of the year while at the car park too.  We then made our way to where the Bonaparte's Gull had been reported early today. Along the way, we spotted two Mediterranean Gulls flyover , making their distinctive call. We arrived at the viewpoint overlooking the reedbed, and waited. Almost immediately, I noticed at least two Little Gulls  doing circuits around the reedbed. One of them was an adult nearing summe

I Sika Here, I Sika There, I Sika Deer Everywhere! We arrived at RSPB Arne at around 9:00am, getting a lift there by Carl, and being accompanied by Kristian. We immediately made our way to Shipstal Point. As soon as we arrived at Shipstal Point, we scanned through the passing Sandwich Terns . Suddenly, Kris and Carl both called out saying they had a pale-headed tern. It was the Forster's Tern. I desperately tried to get on it but was unsuccessful, and soon enough all the terns flew out to sea. We waited for the Forster's Tern a bit longer, before deciding to come back at low tide for it. We then made our way to Shipstal Hide. Once we arrived at Shipstal Hide, I immediately noticed a lot of flying insects around the branches in front of the hide. I took a photo of them and asked an expert who identified them as Green Longhorns . A species of day-flying micro moth that normally flies in May. We also spotted two beautiful  Sandwich Terns in front of the hide, as well as a few Blac

Dapper Drakes! After a 4 hour drive, we arrived at RSPB Vane Farm at around 9:00am, spotting a Fox when we were stopping for petrol at our local ASDA along the way! We were with Kristian and Carl and our target bird was a rare Bufflehead. We made our way along the Loch Leven Heritage Trail until we arrived at a sandy beach with a fence. We met some other birders, including Brook, who pointed out the Bufflehead , which was quite distant, but clearly distinguishable amongst the  Goldeneye which it was with. It continued to dive while we were there, making it hard to get a record shot, but it was a great bird to see in the UK. Satisfied with our views, we made our way back to the visitor centre to look for the resident Red Squirrels. Once we had arrived at the visitor centre, we saw that a Red Squirrel was on a feeder that was being filmed by a live camera. We asked a warden for directions to the feeder, and immediately set off. As soon as we arrived at the feeder, we spotted the Red Squi