The Juvenile Birder

Short Stay Story in Scotland! We set off from home at around 12:30am and arrived in the Scottish Highlands at around 10:00am. As soon as we got out of the car, we were struck by the freezing cold weather. We started scanning the open moors in hopes of finding either White-tailed or Golden Eagle (either would be a lifer), along with other raptors. After stopping in various passing places along the narrow road and scanning the crags, ridgelines and moors, we were unsuccessful in finding any raptors. We did however see around eighty  Greylag Geese (presumably Icelandic birds overwintering) along with around ten Goldeneye . We then decided to try for the eagles at another location. We arrived at our next site at around 1:00pm and straight away got to scanning. We were joined by a few other birders who were also looking for eagles. Suddenly, I noticed a commotion, and one of the birders that was there seemed to be getting his scope onto something. I asked him if he had seen anything, an...

Wading Through the Swamps of Scotland! We set off at around 12.30am with high hopes of seeing a few rare Scottish specialties. We arrived at our first bog in the Abernethy Forest at around 8:30am after dipping Slavonian Grebes earlier in the morning. Our two targets at this bog were White-faced Darters and Northern Emeralds. After around twenty minutes of waiting in the sun, we saw neither! However, I did manage to spot lots of Round-leaved Sundews  in amongst the Sphagnum Mosses , which I was quite pleased with as they were one of my favourite plants. Not yet down trodden, we headed off to RSPB Loch Garten to try and find Ospreys and Crested Tits.  As soon as we arrived at the car park, I noticed a few bumblebees nectaring on a Marsh Thistle . It had a yellow head and a red tail, so I took a picture and it was later identified as a male Early Bumblebee , a new species for me! We also spotted a Large Red Damselfly and a few Coal Tits . We then made our way to the visitor centr...

 Bearded Tits and Winter Migrants! It was our second time visiting Leighton Moss. We arrived at around 10:00am as everyone we saw said to get here early, and it was well worth it. We were told that the Bearded Tits were out and active. We rushed towards the Causeway where the grit feeders were​ and along the way, I hand fed a hungry European Robin some seeds. We stopped at the grit feeders where two male Bearded Tits and one female Bearded Tit were feeding. We were also told that it was the perfect time and weather to see Great Bitterns from the Lower Hide. We made our way towards the Lower Hide, hand feeding a Eurasian Blue Tit and some Great Tits some seeds. We then arrived at the Lower Hide where we saw Mute Swans, Gadwalls, Eurasian Wigeons, Western Marsh Harriers, Eurasian Teals and Northern Shovelers. On our way back, we saw a huge flock of Eurasian Siskins along with two Eurasian Jays feeding on some seeds somebody had left on the armrest of a bench. We also saw a Goldcrest ...