The Juvenile Birder

Welsh Mountaineering! We arrived at the Great Orme at around 7:30am with Zak Spaull in hopes of seeing some rare butterflies. Firstly, we walked along Marine Drive, being guided by Zak, to try and find a rare orchid. As soon as we reached the spot, we noticed many of them marked by red flags. They were Dark Red Helleborines . Since it was a bit early for them, none of them were fully flowering, except for this one plant. We then walked further up Marine Drive to see a plant endemic to the Orme. It was the  Wild Cotoneaster . There were six individual plants located on the Orme, and this was one of them. They were special, but not beautiful. Zak then pointed out another plant next to the Wild Cotoneaster. We both took a photo of it and Zak later told us it was a Welsh Hawkweed , one of the many rare hawkweeds found on the Orme. Whilst looking at the plants, we noticed many Choughs , including four that landed right next to us! We also found our target butterfly, the Silver-stud...

Wykeham Forest Wildlife! We arrived at a site just outside of Wykeham Forest in hopes of seeing Turtle Doves. As soon as we arrived, we were  treated to an abundance of activity. Initially we noticed five Yellowhammers  feeding and showing very well, including what looked to be a few fledglings. Suddenly, two Great Spotted Woodpeckers flew in and started feeding in a tree just opposite us. There appeared to be one juvenile and one adult bird. Although not uncommon, I have not had many views of this majestic bird this year. I then got out of the car (which we were using as a hide) and started looking in and around the bushes, spotting a few Nuthatches , as well as both adult and young Great Tits  and Blue Tits . I then spotted five Tree Sparrows , including at least three young, all perfectly perched on one branch. I didn't expect to see them here, so it was nice to find five of them! I also got a brief view of a Marsh/Willow Tit , however I didn't get to see it long enoug...

Nocturnal Scarcities and Dipper! We arrived at a spot on the River Kent just off of Nannypie Lane at about 7:00pm. We had a pin by Rob and first took a footpath towards the river bank where we saw all the typical river birds: Goosanders,  Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpipers and Grey Herons. This made me feel more confident that Dippers were around. We continued along the road which then came to an end and there was a gate leading to a footbridge which was shaky and high above the river. Although it was quite nerve-racking, we braved it out. We got superb views of the river birds with a Kingfisher even flying down river as it shot into a tree. Just then, a small songbird landed on a rock and started to preen. I looked through my binoculars to ID it but to my frustration, some people were walking on the bridge, causing it to rock and therefore not have a steady look. Luckily, as they walked off, the bird was still there and, to my delight, it was what I thought it was... A DIPPER! While ...