The Juvenile Birder

A First For Britain!! We arrived at 8:00am at Eyebrook Reservoir (Leicestershire) in hopes of seeing a reported White-rumped Sandpiper. We met someone who let me look through his scope to see it. A lifer for me! It was paler that the Dunlin it was feeding with. It was also slightly smaller and longer than the Dunlin. Soon after, a large raptor hovered for a second above the water. It was an Osprey! It flew around and then went away. He told me it was likely the ones nesting at Rutland Water. The White-rumped Sandpiper kept feeding distantly as we viewed it. Not long after the Osprey, two Red Kites soared in the field behind us, as well as three more feeding in the field opposite us. We then went to Willow Tree Fen in hopes if seeing some Cranes but when we arrived (at 10:50am) it was closed. We waited a bit as it mentioned on Facebook that it was open today. Soon after, a report came in on Rare Bird Alert of a Cape Gull. We found out that it was a first for Britain and lucky for us, we...

 Arctic Gulls and Shanks! We arrived at 7:30pm at RSPB Leighton Moss coastal hides (location pinned to post named 'Goosanders and Waders') in hopes of seeing a Sabine's Gull, which unfortunately had a missing right foot and presumably an injured left foot, that was reported earlier. We did go to the saltmarsh in the morning but sadly dipped it. When we arrived at Allen Hide (where the bird was last seen), we asked someone named Phil Rhodes who mentioned to us that he had been here for 20 minutes and didn't see it at all. He then told us about how the bird is being very random. It has sometimes been spotted on Causeway Pool, then it usually hangs out on Allen Pool, and then somewhere it goes somewhere within Morcambe Bay but we are yet to know where that is. After a while, Phil went to go check the Eric Morcambe Hide and soon after, the head of RSPB Leighton Moss, Jarrod, came in. After a while, he pointed out two Greenshanks as they flew in and landed in the only bit of...

 Knot in May and Nesting Arctic Terns! We first visited RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands at 12:00 in hopes of seeing some Spoonbills. We arrived only to hear that half an hour ago, the Spoonbill were chased of by some gulls at Border Hide, flying towards Wales. So, with our target Spoonbills gone, we then turned our attention to some Knot seen recently, also at Border Hide. We went straight there, meeting a birder who had written a book on the way. When we arrived at Centenary Pool, we spotted two Great White Egrets out on the pools outside the hide. When we walked in, we asked a man who let me look through his scope pointed at a Knot (a life tick). It was behind a huge flock of Black-Tailed Godwits along with three others. It was only in winter plumage, though the man said that the other day there was one in full breeding plumage. It at first was sleeping, then came woke up and waddled closer to the shore, and then finally went back to sleep. We also saw a female Marsh Harrier from Marsh...

 Waders and Goosanders! ​We arrived at 6:30am hoping for a glimpse of a European Badger or Tawny Owl. We saw neither, but we did see something moving through the glassy surface of the lake, from the Causeway Hide. A dog European Otter was hunting out on the lake. The sun hit the lake, turning it almost pink. Little Grebes, Great Crested Grebes, Common Goldeneye and much more where out already. We went to the Lower Hide. We saw huge flocks of Greylag Geese with European Rabbits and Common Pheasants mixed in. We saw two juvenile European Otters playing before they parted ways. Common Snipe, Northern Pintail and Mute Swans. We went back and headed straight towards the saltmarsh, to the Eric Morcambe and Allen Hide. We were told it was a short drive away but it took more than an hour for us to find it. It was hidden, through a boggy dirt path and into a car park. We found it on foot. While walking to the saltmarsh, we saw a flock of Fieldfares in a field . It was our first time visitin...