The Juvenile Birder

 The Butterfly Effect! We arrived at Saltholme Statera Energy Operations at 5:25am in hopes of seeing a rare and showy Savi's Warbler, which we dipped earlier this year at RSPB Burton Mere. We walked through the fields to the reedbed. As soon as we arrived to the reedbed, we could hear the distinctive call of the Savi's Warbler . There were two people already there who put me on the bird which was showing incredibly well. We watched it for a while before it flew deeper into the reedbed, out of view. We then set off in search of butterflies.  We arrived at Thrislington NNR at 7:00am. As soon as we entered the meadow we spotted loads of  Meadow Browns fluttering about, including some that landed just a few feet away. Amongst them were a darker butterfly, the Ringlet ! They were just as common and also landed quite close, showing their characteristic features. We then continued through the meadow, only seeing those two butterflies, until there was a viewpoint with a few butt...

 Twitch On & Carry On! image from Toby Carter Our targets for the day were King Eider, Iceland Gull, Little Auk & Smew. The weather throughout was freezing, with strong winds and lots of heavy rain. It was stormy weather, making me hopeful for Little Auk. We arrived at Redcar at 8:00am and parked opposite Zetland Cafe. We immediately scanned the beach for an Iceland Gull reported yesterday afternoon. But, upon scanning, there was no sign of it. We then walked towards the Palace Hub in hopes of seeing our target bird, the King Eider. It was reported as being far out and difficult  to see, but it was worth a shot. It was windy, hammering with rain and cold; exactly what I wanted  today. We scanned from multiple shelters until we met 3 other birders all looking for the King Eider. One of them had even seen a Little Auk! We kept scanning until someone found the bird, and they gave directions for where the bird was. To my despair, I wasn't able to pick it up. Gary ...

 Morning Mega!! We arrived at Redcar at 4:30am in hopes of seeing a MEGA rare Greater Sand Plover that was reported last night. A few days ago, this same bird was located in Aberdeenshire (6 hours away) and we were tempted to go. Then, the one there left and this was found. Whether it's the same bird, we don't know, but it's much closer than Aberdeenshire. It was a two and a half our journey and the sun was barely out when we arrived. We parked at Majuba Car Park and followed a group of birders along the path overlooking the coast. Sanderling ran along the shore with Ringed Plover, while Oystercatchers and Redshank fed along the softer sand. We then arrived at the spot it was last seen and started looking. Suddenly, a man shouts that he's got it in the line of kelp midway through the beach, yet I had no clue where to look. It took a couple of attempts to find the bird, with joggers and dog walkers making it fly off and come back, when suddenly, I got a quick glimpse of ...