The Juvenile Birder

Winning An Award and Sighting Badgers!                            (image from internet)                        We arrived at the Global Birdfair (location pinned to post) at 9:00am and at first went to the Swallow Marquee to check out some of the stall there. After that, we went to the BTO Bird Ringing Demonstration and as soon as we arrived, the staff who were ringing were showing everyone an adult female Sparrowhawk and soon after that they showed everyone a Goldcrest and I got a really close view of it. We then moved to a different marquee and met Stephen Menzie at the British Birds stall. We had a good conversation and I learned a lot about ageing, observation and patchworking. We then attended a bird ID competition for young birders at 3:00pm which was hosted by three people including Stephen. After that, we checked out a few more stalls, meeting David L...

 Padley Gorge Disappointment and Encounter With Cows! We arrived at 8:00am in hopes of seeing Wood Warbler ad Redstart. We were told by Scott to go upriver to the left of the river which meant we had to cross it after a very treacherous walk alongside it. We crossed at a point with millions of Grey Wagtails flying upriver and downriver. We then saw a bridge and then a black, small thing was moving up a trail. At first I thought it was a very big froglet or toadlet, but upon closer inspection, was some sort of rodent. I thought it was a mouse, but then I saw the same thing in the water. They were Water Voles! We continued out trek and ended up finding a path. We then asked some people where to go and the all didn't have a clue what those two birds were. Finally, we met a man who was a birder and he told us is was unlikely we were going to see one this late. While we could hear both birds, we couldn't see either one of  them. This was when I really needed a thermal imaging ...

 Rare Finches! We arrived at 7:30am in hopes of seeing a rare, large finch, that I've never witnessed before. We went towards the viewing deck in front of the café, where we met a ranger named Rob. We were in luck as he said he did Hawfinch watches here at Sizergh castle. We could hear the Hawfinches, yet couldn't see them. A few minutes later, Rob let us look through his scope, pointed at a male Hawfinch feeding underneath a Hornbeam Tree. It continued to feed on the seeds and then flew off. A first for me. He then showed us a female just behind a small bump feeding. Their beaks were phenomenal, such a unique looking bird. Eurasian Nuthatches, Song Thrushes, European Greenfinches and Great Tits were also around. He then pointed the scope at another two males and one female in a tree until they flew off. The Hawfinches were stunning and in abundance. Rob could see my love for birding and it was obvious we needed guidance. He agreed to be my mentor and gave us his email . He als...

 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 ...

 Christmas Rarity! We arrived at midday on Christmas Eve. We were hoping for some festive sighting and we got what we wanted. We first went in the Discovery Hide where we saw Common Pochards, Mallards, Common Shelducks, Northern Pintails, Ruffs, Tufted Ducks, Eurasian Wigeons, Whooper Swans, Greylag Geese and Northern Lapwings all over the mere in their hundreds . We then made our way to the Janet Kea Hide in hopes of spotting some Bramblings. We didn't see any Bramblings but we did see European Goldfinches, Eurasian Blue Tits, Great Tits, European Greenfinches, Common Chaffinches, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The highlight though was a rare Willow Tit that hopped onto the feeders a few times. We then went to the Gordon Taylor Hide where we saw lots of Eurasian Teals and one Northern Shoveler resting on a muddy island. We also saw Western Marsh Harriers hunting some huge flocks of waders to end the Christmasy Day.