The Juvenile Birder

 Temporary Tick! Image by @RobsBirding, not same bird We set off at 3.30am, picked up Dave and were taken to Fakenham by Keith. We arrived at around 9:00am. Our target bird was the Rustic Bunting, that had been seen here yesterday, however a Coues's Arctic Redpoll had been seen earlier in the morning, which would also be a lifer. Once we had arrived at the site, we scanned the crop cover at the far end of the field. The first thing that stood out to me was the large flock of Lesser Redpolls  feeding in the crop cover, as well as the numerous Meadow Pipits and Skylarks in the surrounding fields. We also noticed many Red-legged Partridges  in the fields. In the crop cover were a few beautiful male  Yellowhammers . There were also a few Bramblings . I was very happy to see them after only getting brief views of them in the past. Suddenly, someone spotted the Arctic Redpoll in their scope, and they let me have a look. The Coues's Arctic Redpoll was sat on a branch, ...

Fast & Furious Ticks! We started the day at Easington at 7:00am (no light yet!) in hopes of seeing a Red-flanked Bluetail and an Olive-backed Pipit. We met up with Phil and searched behind The White Horse for the Olive-backed Pipit (OBP) that roosted yesterday. There, we also met Dave, who said the RFB along Vicars Lane was easier to see than the one at the Playing Fields. So we walked down there with Phil and waited. A few minutes later, we got a brief glimpse of it hovering before it dashed out of view.  The Red-flanked Bluetail showed again, but this time it was out in the open on a patch of seeds. Satisfied with getting good views, and a record shot, of the RFB on the driveway, we turned our attention back to the OBP, as Phil's friend rang up saying that the OBP had been seen. We walked back to The White Horse, but when we showed up, no birders were there. I was a bit confused until an RBA message popped up, saying something about the OBP being on a rooftop, south of the ...

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...