The Juvenile Birder

Northern Success! We arrived at Druridge Country Park at around 8:30am after getting a lift from Keith & Dave. As soon as we got out of the car, we were greeting by around 120 Pink-footed Geese flying overhead, making their iconic call. I immediately began scanning the lake from the car park hoping to find my target bird. Whilst scanning, I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers on the lake, something I didn't expect to see on an inland lake, but not too special as we were still fairly close to the coast. We then walked further round the lake towards a big crowd of birders, when a lone birder headed our way and told us that the bird had flown down to the other end of the lake. We then went back on ourselves, but once at the other end of the lake, we still couldn't find the bird, only a few Goldeneyes and two Little Grebes . While we were scanning through the birds, we found out that the bird had been seen again, near where we had parked. We quic...

Seaducks! We set off at 2.30am and arrived at Cocklawburn Beach at 6:30am in hopes of seeing the recently reported Black Scoter. When we arrived, we stood on some elevated rocks and scanned the sea. A few guillemots were close in, as well as a Red-throated Diver. I then spotted a raft of Common Scoters in the distance and scanned through them, yet we couldn't find the Black Scoter. We kept scanning and saw a stunning flock of Turnstones. Then, a skein of geese flew overhead, making a barking sound. I then saw their face to confirm it, they were Barnacle Geese! These were the first confirmed wild ones I had ever seen, as I've only encountered feral ones. More skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew over, as well as four Whooper Swans! We then went over to the Seahouse Cottage for a better vantage point. We scanned, yet we couldn't find anything. Then finally another birder showed up, with a better scope and more knowledge! He came at around 9:00am (this was the same time the bird w...