The Juvenile Birder

Spurn Migfest! We arrived in North Field at Spurn at around 8:00am, after dipping the Pallid Harrier at Long Bank Marsh by 10 minutes. We were accompanied by Keith and Dave who had given us a lift. We had been told by Wayne Glossop that a Red-backed Shrike was showing near the marquees, so we made our way there and were greeted by a huge crowd of birders. We walked towards them and after listening to a few of the other birders describe where the bird was, I managed to spot the Red-backed Shrike  distantly perched on top of a hedge. It then came closer in, but only for a few seconds, before it flew out of view.  Since we were in North Field, we decided to check out some of the stands in the marquees. We also met a few familiar faces. Then, news broke out of a Wryneck in Schipper's Field about 45mins ago. Suddenly, everyone was in a rush to get to the field, but as soon as we got there, we were told there had been no sign of it. Not discouraged, we decided to look around the hed...

 Spurn on Point We arrived at around 6:40am and started the day by walking along the canal, hoping to see an Icterine Warbler and any other migrants. Halfway along the canal footpath, I spotted a juvenile Red-backed Shrike , sat in a bush, before it flew on the other side of the canal and landed on a post. We then reached the end of the canal footpath, so we checked the Crown & Anchor car park before entering Churchfield. We didn't see many birds in Churchfield, but I did see a Gatekeeper . We then noticed a warden opening a moth trap. I was looking to see if there were any new moths for me in the trap, so I asked him about all the moths I spotted which looked interesting. The first new moth I saw was a Dusky Sallow as well as a Common Plume  (both pictured). I then saw the only two new underwing moths in the trap, a Copper Underwing  as well as a Pearly Underwing  (a scarce migrant moth). The other new moths I saw in the trap were Dingy Footman , White Point , C...

 Successful Southern Expedition! image from eBird We set off at 1.30am and arrived at RSPB Pulborough Brooks at 6:20am   in hopes of seeing  Nightingales. We walked along the trail, which we were told was very good for Nightingales, and started listening for their song. We then came to the end of a path and saw a sign saying to look out for Nightingales. Suddenly, a burst of song broke out from the bushes. It was the sweet song of a Nightingale! I looked around, trying to locate it; when I saw a plain, brown bird with a grey chest and throat singing on the edge of a bush. It was a  Nightingale.  I listened and watched as it flitted about but was unable to get a record shot, due to the branches in front of it.  image from Thomas Inns, not same bird Feeling satisfied with my views, I then started hearing a Cuckoo which was a bogey bird of mine and a bird I have been trying to see for years. I went to a viewpoint overlooking the scrape near a playground and sc...

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...