The Juvenile Birder

 Found Myself a Patch! I have always intended to find a patch and have recently explored some potential sites. After browsing google maps looking for a place to patch, we found a place called Grimsargh Wetlands. We also saw that a Garganey was reported there yesterday. With it being quite local to us, and there being nothing to twitch, we decided to give it a try. We arrived at Grimsargh Wetlands at 10:30am and as soon as we got to the main viewing screen, we managed to spot the drake Gargane y straight away, fairly close on Island Lake. We also saw two Avocets  which were also reported on RBA yesterday. We then spotted two Great Crested Grebes doing their courtship display on The Mere and while we were watching them, I spotted a medium-sized bird with a striking blue wing fly across the lake and land in a tree. I had a look through my binoculars and saw that it was a Jay ! We watched it for a bit and then observed the species on both lakes. We spotted an Oystercatcher , a few...

 Deer Stags ! (image from internet) We arrived early at 8:20am ​in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Eurasian Otters that are making an almost daily appearance at the Lower Hide. We were told that 3 Eurasian Otters were out 20 minutes ago and are best seen at 8:00. We then went past the Lower Hide into the woodland in hopes of seeing some a Common Chiffchaff that had been spotted there. We had no luck but did hand feed 2 Marsh Tits, Eurasian Blue Tits and Great Tits. We also saw a large flock Eurasian Siskins along with two male Eurasian Bullfinches and a Eurasian Jay. We then made our way to the Lilian's Hide where we saw a Northern Shoveler/ Cinnamon Teal hybrid. The bird has escaped from an ornamental garden and is wild. It comes to Leighton Moss nearly every Winter and may also stay during the summer. Not a wild bird though. We also saw lots of Common Snipe, a Common Redshank a Great White Egret, Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Eurasian Teal, Northern Pintails and a male Common ...

 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 ...