The Juvenile Birder

A Cumbrian Specialty! We arrived at Smardale Gill NNR at around 8:00am in hopes of seeing a rare butterfly. We were told by a butterfly enthusiast, last week, that he saw lots of them a few days ago just before the viaduct, so we made our way there. Along the way, we met a man who told us he had seen two just across the viaduct, and that it needed to be sunnier in order for the butterflies to emerge before the viaduct. Once we got across the viaduct, I spotted a Meadow Brown and a Silver Y moth, before spotting a dark butterfly nectaring on some knapweed. It was indeed our target butterfly of the day, the Scotch Argus ! At first, it was flying high up the bank with its wings always closed, however, after a bit of waiting, it decided to come down and started fluttering between our feet, sometimes landing on our shoes! It also landed a few times right in front of us with its wings wide open. We think it was a female as it was large and had big, vibrant orange spots.  Suddenly, I spot...

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...

 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...

  Hobbies Hawking and Bitterns Booming and... FLYING! We arrived at 3:00pm (after a brilliant day at RSPB Frampton Marsh) in hopes of seeing Hobbies. When we arrived, we trekked through a woodland and towards the RSPB area. We asked the RSPB staff at the welcome stand about the Hobbies and after a few seconds. He pointed one out as it flew almost above our head, then joined by another. That high, they looked almost like swifts with wider wings. The colouration was completely shadowed by the sun. He mentioned that they'd been Bittern flying from a viewing platform to the left of us up the hill, overlooking two reedbeds. We saw another Hobby fly past and could hear the Bitterns. We then waited about a minute until my first Bittern ever flew out of the reeds to the other side. Shortly followed by another. We then headed back, seeing a female Roe Deer close up and a pair of Great Crested Grebes. A short, yet phenomenal trip!