The Juvenile Birder

Welsh Mountaineering! We arrived at the Great Orme at around 7:30am with Zak Spaull in hopes of seeing some rare butterflies. Firstly, we walked along Marine Drive, being guided by Zak, to try and find a rare orchid. As soon as we reached the spot, we noticed many of them marked by red flags. They were Dark Red Helleborines . Since it was a bit early for them, none of them were fully flowering, except for this one plant. We then walked further up Marine Drive to see a plant endemic to the Orme. It was the  Wild Cotoneaster . There were six individual plants located on the Orme, and this was one of them. They were special, but not beautiful. Zak then pointed out another plant next to the Wild Cotoneaster. We both took a photo of it and Zak later told us it was a Welsh Hawkweed , one of the many rare hawkweeds found on the Orme. Whilst looking at the plants, we noticed many Choughs , including four that landed right next to us! We also found our target butterfly, the Silver-studded Blue

Wykeham Forest Wildlife! We arrived at a site just outside of Wykeham Forest in hopes of seeing Turtle Doves. As soon as we arrived, we were  treated to an abundance of activity. Initially we noticed five Yellowhammers  feeding and showing very well, including what looked to be a few fledglings. Suddenly, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew in and started feeding in a tree just opposite us. There appeared to be one juvenile and one adult bird. Although not uncommon, I have not had many views of this majestic bird this year. I then got out of the car (which we were using as a hide) and started looking in and around the bushes, spotting a few Nuthatches , as well as both adult and young Great Tits  and Blue Tits . I then spotted five Tree Sparrows , including at least three young, all perfectly perched on one branch. I didn't expect to see them here, so it was nice to find five of them! I also got a brief view of a Marsh/Willow Tit , however I didn't get to see it long enough to g

Tern Fest! We set off at 2:00am and arrived at Long Nanny at around 6:30am in hopes of seeing a rare, American tern Just from the car park, we heard a Whitethroat  and spotted a large, pale falcon hunting over a ploughed field, which was either an escaped, hybrid falcon or an aberrant Peregrine . We then walked over to Beadnell Bay Tern Reserve, spotting many Skylarks  and Reed Buntings  in amongst the dunes along the way. As soon as we arrived at Beadnell Bay Tern Reserve, we were struck by the copious amounts of noisy Arctic Terns , and it was great to see them nesting up close from the viewpoint We also spotted a brief Sandwich Tern  in amongst the terns. We then got great views of our target, the American Black Tern , as it flew around us, however it was too quick for me to be able to get a record shot. While we were waiting for the tern to re-appear, we met one of the rangers who pointed out the distant Little Tern  and Ringed Plover  nests, which were both marked with white poles