The Juvenile Birder

Scoring Close to Home! Day 1 I managed to find a new patch which had a more diverse habitat and more accessibility than my last one. We arrived at our new and improved patch (Carr House Green Common) at 6:00am. Looking at the Fylde Bird Club website, we saw recent sightings of Grasshopper Warbler, along with Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat. As soon as we arrived, I spotted a Whitethroat singing in a tree right next to the layby which we had parked at. We then continued along one of the footpaths, spotting a singing  Sedge Warbler  and a flyover Shelduck . Suddenly, I heard a loud, reeling sound. It was the distinctive call of a Grasshopper Warbler. We searched for it and within a few seconds, I spotted a small, brown bird with a yellowy chest perched up on a bush. It was indeed a Grasshopper Warbler . The bird was incredibly showy and was only a few metres away. We enjoyed watching it for ages, and it was relentlessly singing. Satisfied with our views, we moved on. We walked jus...

Egg-cellent Bird Hunt! We set off at 3:00am and arrived at RSPB Middleton Lakes at around 6:00am in hopes of seeing the rare Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Once we arrived at the site, there was another birder there who said that the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers were often seen in the oak trees opposite the car park. We waited in the car park, and after a few minutes, we heard one drumming. It took a while, but we eventually located the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker  in the middle of the oak tree. It showed incredibly well, before eventually flying off. Soon after the  Great Spotted Woodpecker started drumming in the exact same spot! Overjoyed with our views, we made our way to Whitemoor Haye for a rare grebe. We arrived at Whitemoor Haye at around 8:00am in hopes of seeing a Slavonian Grebe. As soon as we arrived at the site, we noticed multiple singing Yellowhammers . We walked further down to a gap along the road and started looking for the bird. As I was scanning, I noticed a flash ...

Birding: A Waiting Game! We started our trip by going to Brierdine (2hrs 45 mins away, we set off at 4.30am). We arrived there at 7:30am and immediately started scanning every tree and bush.  I was very worried about distinguishing between the Yellow-browed Warbler and the Hume's Warbler; Phil told me if you get a good view of a warbler, look at the wingbar. He said Yellow Browed Warber has two obvious wingbars while Hume's Warbler only has one obvious wingbar and a fainter one above. After searching in that area and listening out for the call, we were unsuccessful. We then met a birder who said he had seen this bird in the same place seven years ago. We followed him and other birders began arriving, they went to a patch of greenery that hosted a tit flock that kept doing circuits. Long-tailed Tits  were the most abundant, but a few Goldcrests  and one Chiffchaff  were present, as well as a few Willow Tits  which are a special species that breed here. We continu...

 Ducks and Warblers! We arrived at 9:40am in hopes of seeing a Long-Tailed Duck. We rushed straight towards front desk to get some information. We found out that it was a female viewable from the Bridge Screen. It had been showing well for two weeks so we'd be unlucky if we didn't see it. We went there straight away, not stopping in any hide. When we arrived, it was there. At the back of the lake, by the reeds, a female Long-Tailed Duck briefly made an appearance before diving down again and then back up. After viewing the duck, we headed up to Burton Viewing Point in hopes of seeing Eurasian Woodcock and European Green Woodpecker. We had no luck with them but did catch glimpse of a Common Chiffchaff by the railway bridge. A nice sign of Spring. We then went back to the mere where some Egyptian Geese had been seen. We only saw a Cetti's Warbler to end the trip.