The Juvenile Birder

Spurn Migfest! We arrived in North Field at Spurn at around 8:00am, after dipping the Pallid Harrier at Long Bank Marsh by 10 minutes. We were accompanied by Keith and Dave who had given us a lift. We had been told by Wayne Glossop that a Red-backed Shrike was showing near the marquees, so we made our way there and were greeted by a huge crowd of birders. We walked towards them and after listening to a few of the other birders describe where the bird was, I managed to spot the Red-backed Shrike  distantly perched on top of a hedge. It then came closer in, but only for a few seconds, before it flew out of view.  Since we were in North Field, we decided to check out some of the stands in the marquees. We also met a few familiar faces. Then, news broke out of a Wryneck in Schipper's Field about 45mins ago. Suddenly, everyone was in a rush to get to the field, but as soon as we got there, we were told there had been no sign of it. Not discouraged, we decided to look around the hed...

  Owls and Summer Wildlife! (pic taken from webcam) We first visited RSPB Leighton Moss (for location, click 'Bats and Rare Ducks') at 6:00am with nothing in mind. We went to the Grisedale, Causeway and Lower Hide without seeing much. We then went past Lower Hide where we saw a Tawny Owl (year tick). We also saw some swifts (another year tick) at 7:00am on the Causeway. After a quick stop to the saltmarsh where we saw Bar-Tailed Godwits and Mediterranean Gulls, we headed to Foulshaw Moss CWT (location pinned to blog). We went straight towards the Osprey platform, keeping an eye on the boardwalk for lizards and adders as we walked on. We managed to catch a glimpse of an Osprey through a scope as it popped its head out of the nest from time to time, although it was quite a distance away. We continued along the boardwalk when suddenly I came to a halt. Without noticing, I was standing right besides a Common Lizard. We both stood still until the lizard dropped down. We then scanned...

  Falcons and Even More Mammals! ​It was my first time visiting an RSPB site. It was called Marshside and we arrived at midday. It is mainly a saltmarsh and coast but with a few freshwater marshes too. We went along a route called Redshank Road where many people walk their dogs. If you follow it, you'll end up at the coast. The further ahead we got on the path, the muddier it got. Huge puddles of saltwater were along the path. Very slippery mud and quicksand was also there. Lots of Little Egrets and Pink-Footed Geese were around. When we arrived at the coast, we made sure that the tide was right before we ventured further. A Great Black-Backed Gull was sitting in a deep puddle as Common Redshank zipped around the rocks. We examined the tide pools but nothing was there. We then headed back. We went to a viewing point and saw Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Mallard, Eurasian Teal and Black-Tailed Godwits. We walked further ahead and ended up at Sandgrounder's Hide (the visi...