The Juvenile Birder

Notts Adventure! We arrived at Finningley Gravel Pits at around 5:30am in hopes of seeing a rare bird. As soon as we arrived, we made our way to the pool where it was last seen at. We noticed a few Sand Martins  feeding over the lake, as well as a Little Egret . We then met a birder who had just arrived, named Nigel. After a bit of waiting, a large flock of Lapwings flew in. I scanned the flock and noticed a slimmer, smaller bird at the bottom of the flock. It was getting mobbed by the lapwings and suddenly dipped just below the horizon long enough for me to see its plumage. It was our target bird, the Black-winged Pratincole ! It soon separated from the flock and flew in the direction of another pool just further down the track. We then made our way down the track, when suddenly we were met with a few cows in the middle of the path. Nigel quickly dealt with them, and we reached a viewpoint overlooking a large gravel pit. After a brief scan, we noticed around 200 Sand Martins feedi...

 From Despair to Delight! Image from Levi Gravett (same bird, but take n on different date) We arrived at Llanddulas Beach car park at 8.00am and started scanning towards the left of the car park. We started scanning for over an hour scanning through hundreds of Common Scoters which   were moving about everywhere. There were no other birders to help and I started doubting any success.  Suddenly, a Velvet Scoter came into view, flying low and eventually landing. Knowing that the Surf Scoters had been hanging around with Velvet Scoters, I scanned the scoters nearby and saw a smaller scoter with a funny shaped bill. I tried to keep on the bird but it was difficult with the choppy water and the distance they were at. Then, as it was preening, I saw some white on the back of its head. It was a Surf Scoter ! I stayed on it for a good few minutes before all four Velvet Scoters flew off; as well as the two Surf Scoters. There were also a few drake Red-breasted Mergansers and Gr...

Dipping Rather Than Ticking! We arrived at Mynydd Mawr at 8:20am (Leaving at 5am!) in hopes of seeing a rare Isabelline Wheatear. We had been told by our mentor that there is also Chough here (which would be another lifer after dipping them last week). We parked in a big, grassy layby and started our trek up to the bird. At first, we were a bit disorientated, but we managed to find the right footpath up to the location where the bird was last seen. Without any effort and with no birder in sight we straight away found the medium-sized bird (much larger than I anticipated). It flew straight in front of us and landed up to 10 metres away. I got many record shots, as it danced around near us. It was very pale, and seemed to be the only wheatear there, leading us to believe that it was indeed our target bird, the Isabelline Wheatear . I was thrilled to see this bird, as I was in Gloucestershire, when it was reported last weekend, I really needed it to stick for me! We then scanned around fo...

Seaducks! We set off at 2.30am and arrived at Cocklawburn Beach at 6:30am in hopes of seeing the recently reported Black Scoter. When we arrived, we stood on some elevated rocks and scanned the sea. A few guillemots were close in, as well as a Red-throated Diver. I then spotted a raft of Common Scoters in the distance and scanned through them, yet we couldn't find the Black Scoter. We kept scanning and saw a stunning flock of Turnstones. Then, a skein of geese flew overhead, making a barking sound. I then saw their face to confirm it, they were Barnacle Geese! These were the first confirmed wild ones I had ever seen, as I've only encountered feral ones. More skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew over, as well as four Whooper Swans! We then went over to the Seahouse Cottage for a better vantage point. We scanned, yet we couldn't find anything. Then finally another birder showed up, with a better scope and more knowledge! He came at around 9:00am (this was the same time the bird w...

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...

 Flamborough Seawatching Festival!! We arrived at Flamborough Head at 7:00am in hopes of seeing some lifer seabirds. When we arrived, we had heard that they have had a Pomarine Skua (a lifer for me) and a Sabine's Gull earlier in the morning. We seated ourselves in the seawatching hide and scanned the sea. Tony, one of the members of the observatory, gave me a scope to use while in the hide since it was a guided seawatch. There was a big bouy as well as a distant rig and fishing boat that we used as landmarks. It didn't take long for me to get my first lifer, a Manx Shearwater, as a flock of them flew past the bouy, soon after followed by a lifer Sooty Shearwater. We continued to wait as two juvenile Long-tailed Skuas were reported flying past Hornsea towards us. About 40 minutes after that report, someone says "Long-tailed Skua juvenile distantly heading North." The same bird then landed on the sea and with the approaching fog, came out of view. A couple of Great Sku...

 Rare Warblers and Rare Starlings! (record shot by birder next to us) We first went to RSPB Langford Lowfields (see post named Hobbies Hawking and Bitterns Booming and.., FLYING! for location pin) at 6:00pm in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare Great Reed Warbler. We met someone called Andy on the way there and when we arrived at the Beach Hut, we could see a group of people by Phase 1 to the right of the hut. When we arrived, there were a frenzy of birders. The bird was singing loudly in the patch of reeds in front of us. At one point, we even heard it directly beneath us. We thought we got a glimpse of it as it flew towards an island and back though it could've easily been a common Eurasian Reed Warbler. We waited for about an hour until the someone finally spotted the bird. We rushed down and saw amazingly close views of it as it sung away in the reeds. Besides it were two Eurasian Reed Warblers trying to chase it away from its nest that was nearby. The bird was huge compar...